Godzilla-My Little Pony: FIM Short Story Collection Volume 2
by Writer of the Storm
Summary: Not all tales involving the king of monsters and his pony friends are grand spectacles. Sometimes they're sort little problems that need dealing with or even them just kicking back and hanging out. These are but a few such tales this unusual, but united group of friends share together.
1. International Debate

**I don't own 'Godzilla' nor 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'. 'Godzilla' is a trademark of Toho Co. Ltd. and 'My Little Pony' in all its incarnations is owned by Hasbro.**

* * *

**"International Debate"**

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_Godzilla is a well-known and well-loved heroic icon in the land of Equestria. But will that love and admiration always translate beyond the country's borders? Will other lands find the monster's presence as endearing despite the king of the monsters not having nearly as much exposure outside the realm ruled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?_

* * *

_Takes Place after Season 8, Episode 5 "Grannies Gone Wild"_

* * *

It was easy for one to make the assumption Equestria was the center of the world since so much seems to surround it, both literally and figuratively. It was also understandably easy for one to forget there was so much more going on around the grand, prosperous country. Despite all the land it entailed and the fantastic history it had accumulated over the years, Equestria was not the only major country or superpower out there. There were many other grand lands stretched out across the planet; a planet much bigger than most seemed to realize. Some lands were bigger than others, some had more citizens than others, some could be seen as more civilized than others, and there were a few that had more species living as citizens than others.

Basically, countries came in all different shapes and sizes with different economies, ecosystems, and the like. Some of them might also bare striking similarities to one another in certain ways while also retaining their own unique identity overall. Saddle Arabia, Yakyakistan, the Dragon Lands; these were the names of but only a few other countries out there. Farther east was a massive group of nations that made up a whole continent known collectively as the East Kingdoms. They all had their own individual hierarchies and governments in place, but they all still answered to the highest authority of the continent.

This was the jade emperor, grand high ruler residing in the Jade Empire, the biggest nation of the east lands. For almost as long as Princess Celestia has been in power in Equestria, the jade emperor or empress has always been the designated grand high monarch of the East Kingdoms. In addition to ruling the Jade Empire, the mantle also came with ruling over all the other eastern nations, especially in specific situations when called on to do so. Other than that, the nations had their own governmental systems and/or sub-monarchies in place to handle authorial responsibilities. Some even had their own sub-emperors in place while still being subservient to the jade emperor.

One of the smaller, but still more prosperous kingdoms in this system was a chain of islands at the edge of the eastern continent. These were the Islands of the Rising Sun, a collective of lands ruled over by the sub-emperor known as the imperial emperor of the Rising Sun. Were one to take a walk through the nation, they'd probably see many vast similarities in the culture, geography, agriculture, and architecture found in separate eras of Japan. From the classical era to the feudal era and even evolving mixes of the modern era, it was a cultural cluster. It was truly amazing and remarkable how many similarities there were, much like how other lands in this world not our own shared so many similarities with ours overall.

Cultures, geographic formations, and so much more was similar, it was a most wondrous coincidence one could ponder. The Islands of the Rising Sun were clearly no strangers in such mysterious coincidences. Although, they also had their own unique qualities to their culture as well, while also sharing some similarities with those other lands on this the planet, too. For example, a great chunk of the citizens here loved to hit the beach. Several of these islands were fit for just such an experience, having many great sandy shores perfect for a beach-going experience.

While that was not always the case with some islands not even being habitable, there were even some of the smaller islands that had great beaches for ponies to enjoy. It was true, much like Equestria, ponies were the main inhabitants of the Rising Sun islands. Although the ponies here had the slightest of differences with the Equestrian ponies. Nine times out of ten they were taller, maybe a bit lengthier, and there were some slight differences in the facial features. Perhaps the biggest difference of all was the unicorns had different, more curved, pointed, and sharp horns that closely resembled the blade of a katana.

Regardless of the differences, physical or cultural, a great many of the Rising Sun ponies still wanted to hit the beach when it was a bright sunny day and the temperature called for it. On such a day, the beachgoers and, to an even greater extent, the whole country would be in for quite a surprise. One family of beach-going ponies was busy with happily making a giant sandcastle over the buried lower body of the dad, who smiled and laughed as he helped his wife and children do it. This was the family's first holiday out together in a long time, for the dad's job as an accountant often kept him rather busy. However, he'd also had some time off coming his way and he had every intention of making the most of it despite "strong suggestions" from others in his office to reconsider.

However, after seeing his kids smiling and laughing happily and seeing how brightly his wife beamed, the unicorn stallion knew he'd made the right call. His six-year-old son and five-year-old daughter's joy and his Earth pony wife's relief were clear signs of it. So the stallion just sat back and relaxed while his children continued to bury him under the sand while making a big and surprisingly elaborate sandcastle. It didn't seem like anything could go wrong on such a fun, happy day. Even though looks can always be deceiving.

While the family of ponies were enjoying their time together, a sudden commotion started to come from the surrounding ocean; a rather loud commotion. It wasn't quite tidal wave big or typhoon big or anything like that, but it still caught the attention of ponies on the beach. The dad heard the voices of the other ponies on the beach pointing out some extra churning in the waters close by. He couldn't see it because of the mount of sand all over him blocking his view. He started to get worried, though, when several of his fellow beach-goers started to sound much more panicked as they pointed out something coming out of the water.

When he heard his wife and children scream, that was the final straw. The unicorn stallion sat up and shoved the sand on him aside, wrecking the sandcastle so he could see what was going on. His heart nearly stopped as his eyes widened in pure terror at what what he saw. Three rows of ivory white, almost maple leaf-shaped plates were sticking out of the water and they were enormous. The seas of this world were infested with all sorts of sea monsters among the regular marine life you'd expect to see.

Rarely, though, would one of the bigger sea beasts venture so close to the surface as this creature with the plates had, let alone come towards land. While the mass majority of beachgoers, including the father and his family, had never seen such a sight before in person, something about it still rang familiar. They were about to get a chance to found out, for the approaching rows of plates stopped and then started to shift. The massive creature they belonged to was standing up straight, revealing its upper body. This, of course, included its face... the face of the almighty king of the monsters.

The giant saurian of power and might let out a huge, bell-like roar, starting in a higher, thundering shriek that faded into a low moan. This sound, coupled together with the mere physical presence of such a titanic, mighty-looking beast like the three hundred plus foot kaiju made ponies cry and scream in terror.

"_Run!_" somepony yelled.

"_It's Gojira!_" another added.

Instantly the father got up to his hooves, albeit stumbling a bit from immense fear, and grabbed his daughter while his wife grabbed their son. As they pulled their children as far away from the waterfront as they could, they never took their eyes off the reptilian, dinosaur-like giant who dwarfed just about every other living creature. Godzilla let out another of his mighty roars, this one having much more of a growl in it that would surely make even the most ferocious dragon nervous (which it has). While most ponies were already running away to flee the sight of the monster, some were only slightly backing up while some even got closer to the water's edge to get a better look. It would seem Godzilla was just too fascinating of a sight for some ponies to resist, especially those who knew the kaiju king's reputation and that they had nothing to worry about.

A few, a very select few ponies on the beach had been tourists in Equestria when Godzilla first arrived there, so they knew all the good deeds he had done. They knew despite how the giant leviathan may look, he was actually good at heart, a hero even. Unfortunately, rather than try to calm their fellow beach ponies, they seemed more focused on getting a good look at Godzilla since they'd either gotten only glimpses before or missed him completely. Because of this, there was a much more numerous section of the ponies on the beach that were scared, downright terrified of the sight that was Godzilla. The king of monsters quickly saw this and got the hint quick that he wasn't welcomed around here.

So with a flare of his nostrils and a sneer of his upper lip, Godzilla turned away from the beach and dove back into the water. His tail flipped up in the air during his dive and then splashed back down into the water before Godzilla started swimming away. As he went, his back plates disappeared under the ocean waves. Soon the king of the monsters was gone, much to the relief of the majority of the ponies at the beach, even though they were still shaken to their very core from the experience. For the first time ever, Godzilla had appeared off the shores of a country foreign to Equestria.

And there were bound to be consequences.

* * *

_Gigantic Creature Terrorizes Beach Goers_

_Sea Monster Appears Near Rising Sun Islands_

_Beach Ponies Flee For Their Lives From Monster_

_Surfs-Up For Giant Monsters in Rising Sun_

_Godzilla Appears And Horrifies in Rising Sun_

These were but a few of the many headlines of various papers both from the Rising Sun Islands and all over the world reporting on the incident from a week before. They were all Twilight Sparkle cared to get her hooves on as well. She could only bring herself to take so many disheartening headlines. _Looks like there are some things even I don't want to read,_ Twilight Sparkle thought as she hung her head in despair.

"I can't believe this is happening," Twilight Sparkle let out.

She was sitting in the throne room of her castle. Her throne stood alongside the thrones belonging to her friends on all sides of the round table that doubled as the map of friendship. She wasn't alone, though.

"It's just a misunderstanding, Twilight," Spike said as he put a supportive hand on her hoof. The princess looked to her little brother-like assistant as he smiled reassuringly. "That's all it is, just a misunderstanding."

"I sure hope you're right, Spike," Twilight Sparkle said. "I hope the emperor of the Rising Sun Islands sees it that way."

"I'm still wondering why Godzilla showed up the way he did," Princess Celestia chimed in. The others looked to the seven-foot-tall, white-furred alicorn, who had come to converse with her fellow princess before their meeting with the foreign emperor. "He has not been known to just randomly show up on foreign shores, except when needed like that incident on Parrotdise Island."

"It's not like him at all," Spike agreed.

"Fluttershy said that Godzilla did because something felt... _familiar_ about it," Twilight Sparkle explained.

"You mean like something from the world he came from originally?" Princess Celestia asked.

"Exactly," Twilight Sparkle confirmed. "Apparently he got feelings from it. The same kind he did from a similar chain of lands he lived around growing up in his world."

"So in a way, Godzilla felt like he was going home?" Spike asked. "Wow, that's deep... Do you think this means he's homesick or something?"

"I doubt it," Twilight replied. "Godzilla's told Fluttershy he's been treated much better here than he ever was at his original world. My guess is that it was a temporary lapse where Godzilla was bound by his animal instincts to head for familiar territory."

"Be that as it may," Celestia interjected, "we still can't have Godzilla showing up in foreign nations like that. Especially not superpowers like the Rising Sun."

"What are you saying?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Twilight, you saw the panic Godzilla caused just by rising out of the water," Princess Celestia stated further.

"Are you saying you want to try and impose sanctions on Godzilla?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

_Yeah, good luck with that,_ Spike thought to himself.

"That's more than likely something that will be brought up in the meeting today," Princess Celestia said. "So you should probably be prepared for that."

"But where do you stand on it?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"I'll tell you everything once we're in Canterlot," Princess Celestia said. "Now, I suggest we get moving there ASAP. We've only got five and a half hours before the meeting with the foreign emperor. This will give us time to do one more talk-through of our strategy together... and where we both stand."

Twilight Sparkle put a hoof to her chest as she took in a deep breath then let it out again as she extended her hoof outward.

"Okay, Princess Celestia, let's do this," Twilight Sparkle said, putting on her game face.

"Very well," Celestia replied as she offered a supportive smile.

With that, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, and Spike exited the throne room, only to find TJ waiting outside for them. This surprised them all, especially Twilight.

"TJ, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked in surprise.

"Well, I knew that meeting was today," TJ explained. "So I just wanted to wish you luck, Sparkles."

The Earth pony stallion walked over, pulled Twilight close and kissed her. She did kiss back, but it felt halfhearted, not that Thunder Jack blamed her. He knew a big political debate was awaiting her, hence why he took no offense to any sort of hesitations. He put a hoof under her chin and turned her head to look up at him and his supportive smile.

"I have confidence in you, Twilight," TJ said. "I'm sure with you being a part of this meeting, everything will go just fine."

_Glad one of us feels that way,_ Twilight Sparkle thought to herself. Instead of actually saying that she forced a smile back.

"Thank you, Jacky," the alicorn princess said as she took her boyfriend's hoof in one of hers. "Let's just hope your faith isn't misplaced."

"Twilight, we must go," Celestia said kindly, but firm.

"Okay," Twilight Sparkle said as she nodded. Then she looked to TJ. "See you later?"

"I'll be right here when you get back," TJ said before exchanging a second, more passionate kiss with Twilight.

After that, the tall, tan-furred stallion stepped to the side and let Twilight, Celestia, and Spike pass by. _Please let this go well,_ TJ thought as a concerned expression crossed his face.

* * *

_**Canterlot, 5 Hours Later:**_

"Your Majesties," Flash Sentry said as he entered the royal hall. Twilight, Celestia, and Spike looked across the way from the thrones of the royal sisters to the entrance. "The Rising Sun's escort has arrived outside the castle walls."

"Please let them in quickly," Princess Celestia beckoned.

"At once, Your Highness," Flash said with a bow before taking off.

As the white alicorn of the sun turned back to those with her, she saw that her former pupil was as much a nervous wreck as ever. Except she was doing her absolute best to not show it and go crazy like she tended to do. Her deep, heavy breaths, however, showed how tense and on edge she truly was. Princess Celestia offered a supportive hoof to Twilight Sparkle's shoulder. When the younger alicorn mare looked to her superior, she saw a motherly smile on her face.

"You can do this, Twilight," Princess Celestia assured her friend. "This isn't the first time you've dealt with international relations between countries. I'm sure nothing will go wrong."

Twilight Sparkle smiled back as she put a hoof on the one Celestia placed on her shoulder.

"Thank you, princess," Twilight Sparkle said.

Suddenly the door to the royal hall opened again as Flash Sentry stepped forward.

"Announcing the arrival of the representatives of the Islands of the Rising Sun," the orange pegasus stallion announced.

This confused Spike, Celestia, and Twilight. _Representatives?_ Twilight Sparkle thought to herself. _I thought we were meeting with the emperor._

The twin doors swung open as a small group of ponies walked in. There were three in the middle, two unicorn mares on each side in black office coats and skirts with white shirts to go with. In the middle was a pegasus stallion wearing a black suit and tie with a white shirt to match along with black, thick-framed glasses. The ponies that surrounded them as their security escort wore _karuta_ armor reminiscent of that worn by samurai in the feudal era of Japan. They had they carried katanas in side holsters as well, some even carrying extra weapons, _naginata_s; long poles with curved blades at the end.

Twilight Sparkle followed Princess Celestia's lead as she stood up regally and majestically. Twilight Sparkle tried to look as regal as possible... but didn't quite match up to her former teacher's presence. They both watched as the Rising Sun political party stopped at the bottom of the steps leading up to the twin thrones of the royal sisters.

"Welcome, oh honorable delegates and representatives of the Rising Sun," Princess Celestia announced. "We hope that with your cooperation we may settle any and all misunderstandings recent events might have caused between our two prosperous nations."

The Rising Sun representatives responded with a small bow of their heads, which the princesses returned in kind.

"We hope for the same, Princess Celestia," the brown-furred pegasus stallion in the suit replied. "May this meeting prove fruitful and beneficial to us all."

"Hopefully so," Twilight Sparkle responded.

This caused the pegasus stallion to turn to her and raise a brow questioningly. The gesture made Twilight feel nervous that maybe she spoke at the wrong time or said the wrong thing. Celestia saw her fellow princess's distress and took the reigns.

"Of course you must've heard by now of our own princess of friendship?" Celestia asked pleasantly. "This is Twilight Sparkle, one of Equestria's newest princesses who has helped us a great deal in forming close bonds with neighboring nations."

Twilight Sparkle merely smiled as she waved a nervous hoof. While the pegasus stallion looked outwardly neutral, one got the feeling inside he might be hiding a building frustration.

"Of course," the pegasus stallion said as he bowed his head. "Thank you for your presence here today, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Hopefully, it is a helpful one."

"I certainly hope so, representative," Twilight Sparkle said.

"Of course, how could I forget?" the pegasus stallion replied. "Introductions are indeed in order. Firstly let us offer our humble apologies that the emperor could not be here. He was tied up with other affairs."

"We understand," Princess Celestia said. "It's not easy running a country."

"Not at all," Twilight Sparkle agreed.

"Which, of course, is why I said I'd gladly fill in for the emperor," the pegasus said. "He thanks you for your understanding, as do we all. This actually falls under my jurisdiction anyways. I am the Rising Sun's minister of foreign affairs. Or the foreign minister for short. My name is Stern Brow."

"A pleasure," Celestia said with an added smile.

He then pointed a hoof to the fully peach-colored mare on his left.

"This is my personal secretary, Helpful Hoof," the foreign minister said.

She smiled as she bowed respectfully.

"_Konichiwa,_" Helpful Hoof greeted.

Stern Brow then turned to the candy red-furred and berry blue-maned unicorn mare on his left.

"This is Rosey Pedal," he introduced.

The mare bowed respectfully.

"I'm a representative for the governor of the prefecture the island falls under," Rosey explained.

The two princesses knew right away what island she was referring to.

"Yes, of course," Celestia said. "We're very happy to have you here."

"_Dōmo arigatō_," Rosey Pedal said as she bowed once more.

Alright," Stern Brow said a bit forcefully. "Now that the pleasantries are finished, perhaps we can get down to the matter we're here for."

"Certainly, foreign minister," Princess Celestia said.

She may have been apprehensive of the way the minister just spoke, but she wouldn't let it show in any way.

"Perhaps we could start with what we all hope to get out of this meeting?" Twilight Sparkle suggested.

"Very well," Stern Brow said. He then gestured a hoof to the Equestrian princesses. "How about you begin, Your Majesties, given that you called this meeting?"

"Very well," Princess Celestia said with a smile. "Thank you for your generosity, foreign minister. Princess Twilight?"

Celestia looked to the violet-furred mare who gave the smallest nervous twitch but bowed her head respectfully and smiled nonetheless.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia," Twilight Sparkle said before turning to the Rising Sun representatives. "It's my understanding that you, on behalf of the citizens and authorities of your country, have come here with many questions, doubts, and possibly even fears. I hope that we can answer these questions, remove these doubts, and put all fears to rest in the name of maintaining and even improving upon the relationship between our two nations. While contact between Equestria and the Rising Sun has been the bare minimum so far, trades and exchange, nation summits and the like, I wish for us to be much closer. Perhaps Equestria and the Rising Sun Islands may even be allies or... friends when all is said and done.

"That is what I most want to get out of this meeting overall. And you, Princess Celestia?"

"I couldn't have said it better, Princess Twilight Sparkle," the tall white alicorn said with an approving smile. "My hopes and desires are the same as my fellow princess's."

"And ours as well," Stern Brow said. "Along with other wants and desires."

Twilight Sparkle looked to Celestia questioningly, to which the pony with the tri-colored mane smiled and bowed to let her co-princess take the stage.

"Please, by all means state them," Twilight Sparkle said with a smile.

Stern Brow's neutral, but authoritative expression turned into a glare of malice.

"Either the containment of full-on termination of the beast that caused a great disturbance by showing up in our country's waters so close to our lands!" Stern Brow proclaimed.

This got a small look of surprise from Celestia and a full-on gasp of horror from Twilight Sparkle.

"What?" the younger alicorn asked with a hint of dread in her tone.

"We want something done about _Gojira_," Stern Brown reiterated. "The creature you are clearly responsible for. Otherwise, you would not have called this meeting as you did. As such, we're holding you and your country personally responsible."

"_Gojira_?" Princess Celestia inquired.

"That is what our government has code-named the monster," Stern Brow explained. "The one you call Godzilla."

"You want us to kill Godzilla?" Twilight Sparkle asked in a whispery, horrified voice.

"Or to get the creature under control," the minister of foreign affairs replied. "That is a direct request from the emperor on behalf of our whole country. Although speaking frankly from my own perspective, I am hoping to see the order from you to have _Gojira_ destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Twilight Sparkle asked in horror. She looked utterly mortified by the foreign minster's words. "How could you ask something like that of us? How could you ask us to take Godzilla's life when he hasn't taken one from anyone, _anyone_ in your country?"

The stallion's glare intensified.

"I won't hesitate with my answers, princess," Stern Brown said. "Especially now since I see where you stand on this. Being blunt on my own personal thoughts, and feelings on this matter, the monster is a pubic menace. I want this creature dead, killed, completely wiped out and obliterated. It just showed up on our shores without any hesitations and sent the public into a wild panic."

"And just because of that, you want––?"

Celestia put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, indicating for her to stop. The violet mare looked to the taller alicorn, who only gave her a look indicating she'd take the reigns.

"It was my understanding Godzilla actually didn't come ashore," Princess Celestia responded. "In fact, everything I heard said Godzilla stayed in the water looking on for mere moments before turning around and leaving again. Is this not true? Is it also not true that he did not physically harm a single pony at all?"

"Yes, but ponies were still injured in the panic," Stern Brow said. "Some were trampled."

"And you're gonna pin the blame squarely on Godzilla?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Twilight," Celestia said as she looked to her former pupil.

"_Yes!_" Stern Brow said. "If it were not for that monster showing up, there would've been no panic! An animal, a _wild_ animal such as _Gojira_, especially at that size _should not _be able to run free as it does!"

"Godzilla is _not_ a wild animal!" Twilight Sparkle protested. "I don't know how much the Rising Sun knows about Godzilla and I realize the beach landing is your only personal experience so far, but––"

"But what, Twilight Sparkle?!" Stern Brow said, intentionally leaving out her royal title. "Because there are wild stories of _Gojira_ saving your country regularly, you wish us to leave the beast alone?" The minister of foreign affairs paused for a moment, but there was no reply to his question. "Oh, yes, the stories are well known. Not just to us, but we happen to know for a fact that a lot of other countries, like us, find these tall tales dubious.

"Not only that but they are also, again like us, _not comfortable_ with the idea of a sovereign nation like yours harboring a monster who's a potentially serious threat to international security. For years now, Equestria has been building up a good name in international relations. Are you truly willing to let that goodwill you've worked all this time for get thrown away for the sake of a beast you tell such fantasies about?"

"They are _not_ fantasies and they're _not_ tall tales," Twilight Sparkle insisted. "Godzilla has truly come through to save our lives, our citizens, our country, and the whole world on several occasions! Yes, the world! The threats we faced that Godzilla shielded us from could've had a significantly bigger effect on us than they did. They could've effected the world too and that includes the Islands of the Rising Sun, foreign minister."

Stern Brow scoffed not holding back any of the contempt he felt at that moment.

"It is true, foreign minister," Princess Celestia said. "We can provide several photographs and other forms of documentation that can verify and substantiate that Godzilla did all the things for us he did. That includes my own word on having seen him do it myself. I was there and up close to watch him fight an evil beast under the control of a psychotically evil mad pony that meant to bring harm to our country."

"So you can believe us when we say Godzilla is _not _a threat," Twilight Sparkle said. "He would never intentionally harm any pony."

"Maybe not for your country," Stern Brow said with a scoff.

"I beg your pardon!" Twilight Sparkle said with a bit of outrage.

"Clearly you have some sort of bond with this beast," Stern Brow said. "But it's also clear that you don't have a leash on it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be going into foreign territories like it has been... Unless maybe it was by _your_ own decree!"

"_Be mindful of your words, foreign minister!_" Princess Celestia said in her royal Canterlot voice. "_Less you accuse Equestria and more directly myself of conspiring against neighboring nation, you would do well to think about what accusations you toss around!_"

The whole room was taken aback by the white-furred alicorn's outburst, some ponies even looking downright terrified. The armed escorts with Stern Brow and the unicorn mares had even reached for their weapons, making the Canterlot royal guards in the room take a few steps forward. After a moment, Stern Brow looked more outraged than he did scared, although it was clear he, like most of the ponies in the room, was still uneasy after that display. None in that throne room was more horrified than Princess Celestia herself, who seemed absolutely distraught over what she had just done. She looked to Princess Twilight Sparkle who, along with Spike, seemed intensely mortified at the development in their own right.

"Foreign Minister Stern Brow, I am so, so sorry," Princess Celestia said in a shaky voice. "Please excuse my outburst."

"_How dare you speak out against us in that manner?_" Stern Brow angrily said as he pointed a hoof at the sun princess. "_We came here seeking a solution to this matter and you have the gull to shout at us like a child throwing a tantrum?!_"

"What does it seem like you're doing right now, foreign minister?" Twilight Sparkle said bluntly. Stern Brow's personal secretary and the governor's representative both gasped while Stern Brow scowled. "We tell you Godzilla's not a threat or a wild animal and even offer proof and you threw it back in our face to make blatantly false accusations. You dared to suggest that we conceptualized a plot against other nations. One that involved sending Godzilla in to assert dominance.

"These ideas come clearly from a realm of paranoia and are completely unfounded. For one thing, Godzilla's been with us for more than a year now. If we were going to use him in some capacity like that, don't you think we would've by now? On top of that, Godzilla has made _no attacks_ on your country! Not even this one time where he showed up and then left almost immediately without ever coming onto land; y_our lands_.

"Also, Godzilla has made no such appearances in any other country, save for an incident where he actually _saved_ a group of parrot islanders from a gang of rogue dragons! I truly fail to see where you have grounds to make such claims. Despite all that, you're still justified in your concerns about Godzilla showing up in your territory at all unannounced."

Stern Brow was growling through gritted teeth, looking like his brown fur might actually start to turn red.

"_I will not be talked to this way!_" Stern Brow shouted. "_You either do something about_ Gojira_ or_––"

"If I may," Rosey Pedal interjected, much to Stern Brow's dismay. "Before this gets any more heated, I'd like to give my governor's stance on all this."

"Of course, Representative Rosey Pedal," Princess Celestia said. "Please state your piece on these proceedings."

"Thank you," Rosey said with a bow. "At first, the governor's demeanor and stance was much like Stern Brow's here. He was angry, outraged, distraught, and very fearful, being concerned by what _Gojira's_ presence on our shores could mean."

"Oh, boy," Spike let out, voicing the concern Twilight and Celestia were also feeling.

"However, then we got word from some of our citizens," Rosey Pedal said. "You see, it turns out Equestria is quite a popular tourist location for a lot of our citizens. What Stern Brow failed to mention earlier was that while it's true many in our country are concerned with this development, a good many others have also come to _Gojira's_ defense."

"Really?" Twilight Sparkle let out in glee.

"Indeed, Your Highness," Rosey Pedal said with a smile. "Those who were tourists here in the periods you say Godzilla protected you from external threats corroborate these claims, even showing their own photographs they took. So in that case, things do check out."

"Why do I get the feeling there's a 'but' coming?" Spike inquired.

"Ssh," Twilight shushed her assistant.

"However, the governor still has concerns," Rosey Pedal said. "Like the majority of those in our government, he does not want an incident like this to stand as is without action being taken. He and the rest of the government do, indeed, want _something_ to be done about this on your behalf."

"_Kill the monster!_" Stern Brow exclaimed. "It's a public menace!"

"Foreign minister, I'm going to have to ask you to refrain from such outbursts," Princess Celestia said with royal authority in her voice.

"I wasn't exaggerating earlier!" Stern Brow said. "Our government has hooves in several countries who feel the same type of concern about _Gojira_. More specifically, the fact that you're clearly responsible for him and don't do anything about it or that he's yours at all. That even includes some of your so-called allies! Saddle Arabia, Mount Aris, Zebabra, Maretonia, Almythara! Yes, I said Almythara!

"Even the minotaurs don't like the idea of you having a giant monster that you can let loose whenever you please!"

"And you've clearly seen evidence to the contrary of that happening!" Princess Celestia said. "It's true Godzilla goes and swims about wherever he wants, but we have no control over that. Godzilla his own being, nopony owns him!"

"Ah, but was there not a ceremony in which you made this thing a citizen of your country?" Stern Brow asked. "If so, sounds like a mockery if you ask me."

"There was a ceremony, yes," Princess Celestia said. "But that was only honorary citizenship. It does not give me or anypony else power over Godzilla. He would only ever listen if he wanted to, which he always has so far!"

"Then he is a wild animal who could attack at any moment!" Stern Brow said.

"Absolutely not!" Twilight Sparkle said. "How can you still make those claims when everything we've said has been to the contrary?!"

"How do you know Godzilla won't attack?!" Stern Brow asked.

"He's told us!" Twilight Sparkle said.

This caused Stern Brow to laugh mockingly.

"An animal told you he would never attack another country?!" Stern Brow asked.

"Not us directly," Twilight Sparkle said. "It was through our friend, Fluttershy, who can... talk to animals."

A few bits of laughter came from those in the Rising Sun's political party.

"What, you guys don't have anypony like that?" Spike asked.

"Godzilla told us through her that he only wants peace and friendship," Twilight Sparkle said. "He only attacks when we or any other innocent pony requires aid. This should further authenticate the fact that any surrounding countries are safe from any harm because of Godzilla's courage, kindness, integrity, loyalty, and friendship. We have no need for him to attack another country because our goal with them is global peace and unity! Godzilla could probably even defend your country if you ever needed it, foreign minister."

Stern Brow scoffed again.

"So, let me see if I understand this," Stern Brow said. "You want us to take you on your word, which you claim is also _Gojira's_ word, which he gave you through... an animal translator? While we're on the subject, does this not contradict your continued statements that _Gojira_ is not an animal?"

"I said he wasn't a _wild_ animal," Twilight Sparkle corrected. "By technicality, yes, Godzilla is an animal. He's not a member of a recognized sentient species and he can't talk like you or I can. But clearly, there's more to him than you're giving him credit for. He's not only sentient in his own right, but he's obviously benevolent."

"Utterly ridiculous," Stern Brow scoffed. "So am I too understand that you'll do nothing about what _Gojira's_ presence in the land of the Rising Sun caused us?!"

"We never said that and we'd appreciate it if you'd stop putting words in our mouths, foreign minister," Princess Celestia said. "Yes, action will be taken. We will _attempt_ to reason this out with Godzilla and see to it your shores and those of any other foreign soil are safe from his potentially harming presence. Nonetheless, what Princess Twilight Sparkle said before is true. Should you need his aid at all, we will also try to see that Godzilla will give it should you ask so."

"Don't count on it, Your Highness," Stern Brow said with scoffing spite. "The emperor will, indeed, hear of what transpired here today."

"As will my governor, who will send a copy of my report to the higher-ups as well," Rosey Pedal said. "That way all stories and points of view on this reach the emperor so there's no confusion."

Stern Brow's brow furrowed greatly as he looked to the representative with contempt.

"Thank you, Representative Rosey Pedal," Princess Celestia said. "And to you too, foreign minister. I'm sure this meeting will work to improve relations with our two nations over time."

"So I suppose this means this matter is closed for the time being?" Stern Brow inquired.

"Yes," Twilight Sparkle said. "Keep in mind, though, this also applies to the shores of other countries, not just the Rising Sun. So Godzilla shouldn't be making any unplanned incursions to Maretonia, Zebabra, or anywhere else."

"What about the cruise liners and small pleasure crafts out on the oceans?" Stern Brow inquired. "The ones who reported bad encounters with _Gojira_ where his mere presence terrified some passengers to death?"

"We've heard of no such claims or incidents," Princess Celestia said. "Had we, they would've been dealt with just like we're dealing with this situation right now regardless of what you might think happened here, foreign minister."

"As far as I'm concerned, nothing happened here," Stern Brow said. "Nothing at all. This matter is _not _handled and _not closed. _It was all a waste of time."

"Thank you for seeing us, oh, honorable representatives," Princess Celestia said as she, Twilight, and Spike bowed. "I look forward to future meetings with you and your government in the future."

Everyone in the Rising Sun's political party bowed their heads respectfully, save for Stern Brow, who glared and turned away, soon followed by the others. Rosey Pedal offered the princesses of Equestria an apologetic smile before she fully turned away and left with the others as Stern Brow was cursing in his own native language "under his breath". He was still doing so even after the twin doors shut behind him and the others in his party.

"Well... that could've gone better," Spike said.

"What was with that foreign minster?" Twilight Sparkle asked in a distraught tone. "It was like he was determined to make this meeting go bad, determined to make Equestria out to be an evil, plotting nation, and to make Godzilla out to be a vicious, mindless, and destructive animal!"

"That's how these meetings go sometimes, Twilight," Princess Celestia said. "Sometimes ponies are just determined to see things one way and prove they're just in doing so, regardless of the facts. A good majority of the time, it takes a lot more than one meeting to change that mindset. Even after a great many, though, there's still no guarantee on changing their minds."

"But he was so––"

Twilight Sparkle couldn't finish her sentence, only huffing in defeat. Spike took his sister-like friend's hoof in his hands and looked up to her with a supportive smile. Twilight Sparkle responded with a grateful, but still sad smile of her own.

"I know, Twilight," Princess Celestia said as she put a supportive hoof on her former student's shoulder. This made her and Spike look up to the princess of the sun. "I didn't like him either." This made the trio share a round of laughter. "Oftentimes, there are meetings with representatives from other countries that I end up not caring for personally."

"Really?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Oh, of course," Princess Celestia said. "Twilight, you're going to find through such meetings as this and other political gatherings, you'll meet many royal and government officials that you'd rather not spend time with personally. That's perfectly fine because that's not what government or politics should be about. It should be sitting down, discussing what's best for all involved, especially the citizens, and then doing what's agreed to be best. Although, that doesn't always happen, unfortunately.

"Some forget we are servants for the masses and would rather push their own agendas, regardless of if it's best for everyone involved or not. It's even worse when what could be seen as best for a certain group isn't best for another. It's a very complicated process, which is why meetings like this are necessary, even if they don't always go how they should... And yes, they can devolve into shouting matches sometimes, too."

"I understand, Celestia," Twilight Sparkle said. There was still a troubled expression on the violet alicorn's face, though. "Still, this meeting's left me uneasy."

"It's left me worried as well, Twilight," Princess Celestia admitted, letting it show on her face. "Are there really countries that have grown weary of Equestria all because of our association with Godzilla? And what of the stories about ocean liners and pleasure boats being terrorized by Godzilla? Could such suggestions be true?"

"If so, it's surely not intentional," Twilight Sparkle said. "That's not the kind of kaiju Godzilla is. He just barely qualifies for that title. He's not a monster!... Not the way something like Geon or Solomon... or Monsager were."

"Yes, yes, Twilight, I know," Princess Celestia said. "Believe me, I know. Still, clearly, some ponies don't."

"So... what are you guys going to do then?" Spike asked.

"What _should_ we do?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "What all can we do? What will happen if this all gets in the way of my project?"

Princess Celestia looked to Twilight Sparkle.

"You're referring to the Monarch Alliance initiative?" the sun alicorn inquired.

"Yes," the princess of friendship replied. "I'm sorry, I know it's wrong to be thinking about that kind of stuff right now."

"No, Twilight, it isn't," Celestia said firmly. "Having the countries of the world united under a single banner in times of need is very much a good idea. Right now, though, it doesn't look like the Monarch Alliance is possible with other nations. Not even with some of our own allies apparently who are supposedly uneased by our friendly relationship with Godzilla."

"What do we do then?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"That's what I've been asking," Spike said.

Princess Celestia was silent as she looked on thoughtfully. With each passing second, Twilight Sparkle and Spike both got all the more nervous, as was evident by their expressions and body language.

"We need to talk with Godzilla," Princess Celestia said. "We need to see what we can get him to do to restore and possibly improve Equestria's international relations."

Twilight Sparkle nodded her head solemnly while Spike looked less than pleased in his own right.

"So, you're really gonna do it?" Spike asked flatly. "You're really gonna try to impose sanctions on Godzilla?"

"It's not like that, Spike," Princess Celestia said. "I just want to figure out the best course of action to take involving all the parties this scenario includes. _Especially_ Godzilla!"

"And by doing that, you mean put a leash on him?" Spike said. "You want to make Godzilla our pet?"

"No..." Twilight Sparkle said, "we would be his."

* * *

_**3 Hours Later:**_

"And that's basically where we're at right now," Twilight Sparkle finished up.

She, Spike, Fluttershy, and Princess Celestia all looked as nervous as a fly in a spider's web. They were currently in conference with perhaps the mightiest being on the face of the planet; the king of monsters himself, Godzilla. The apex predator looked none too pleased himself, his animalistic scowl appearing as though it could kill a creature just by looking at it. The ponies and their dragon friend all did their best not to for fear of such a thing happening. This anger in Godzilla stemmed from the fact that he'd just heard the results of the meeting that took place earlier that day with the minister of foreign affairs from the Rising Sun.

Before heading to the meeting, Twilight Sparkle had grabbed Fluttershy to come with her, Spike, and Celestia to the west coast beachfront. The yellow pegasus was to both call Godzilla and act as an interpreter for the king of monsters. She figured it was best they bring as few of their friends as possible given the nature of this meeting and how it could go. So now here the ponies and the young dragon were standing on a seaside cliff looking up at the amazing sight that was Godzilla. It was all the more frightening too, because of how aggravated and upset Godzilla was.

The giant saurian lifted his head up high as he let out a loud, high-register, shrieking roar that slowly faded into a bellow. This had made the ponies and Spike flinch and twitch with fear, for the outburst was so sudden. Ordinarily, when talking to his smaller friends, the kaiju king would emit a lower bellow so as not to shatter their eardrums. This one got away from him, though, for the great Godzilla felt like his wrath could be invoked at any moment. Godzilla saw what his outburst did to his friends and hung his head as he let out a softer growl of a roar.

"Godzilla's really upset right now," Fluttershy said as she took her hooves off her ears.

"We can tell," Spike said dryly.

"But he does apologize," Fluttershy said.

"And so do I, Godzilla," Twilight Sparkle said.

"That goes for me as well," Princess Celestia said. "I had a feeling these developments would upset you, oh great Godzilla. But it truly was not my intent."

Godzilla let out a few growls as he looked to the alicorn of the sun.

"He knows," Fluttershy said.

Godzilla tried to force a smile, but it quickly faded as his brows lowered and his facial expression conveyed his upset demeanor. His sadness soon faded into another angry scowl as he let out several low, growling bellows.

"Godzilla says he hates that it's come to this," Fluttershy translated. "He always knew he'd be treated differently because of who and what he is, but he didn't think his mere presence would reflect so badly on all of Equestria too. All he wanted was to explore this new world that's suppose to be his home... Now, he's asking what good is it to be a defender in a different world if we're all gonna keep him on a short leash just because he's a kaiju."

Twilight and the others looked to the somber creature, looking as vulnerable as he possibly could emotionally.

"Godzilla..." Twilight Sparkle let out in a sympathetic voice.

The saurian responded with a big flare of his nostrils as he looked all the more dejected. He roared again, in a low, moaning roar as he looked away.

"Oh," Fluttershy let out emotionally as she wept.

"What?" Spike asked. "What did he say?"

"He asked if ponies will always hate and fear him just because he's a monster," Fluttershy said

"_No!_" Twilight Sparkle said as she looked to Godzilla. "They just don't know you yet! Not like we here in Equestria do!"

"That's right!" Spike said as he walked a little closer to the cliff's edge. "Don't forget while you're still new to everyone out there-" Spike pointed beyond Godzilla- "you're still loved by _all_ the ponies and creatures living here!" Spike pointed downward at the ground with both hands for emphasis. "We all know straight up that there is good in you. We've all seen it up close and personal when you risked your life to protect us all.

"You're only a monster in the loosest of terms. You're a hero more than anything else. Maybe to some, you are just a monster, but the best thing about you is you can be a monster when it counts the most and then turn around and be a hero when we need you to be! I don't like that we have to come talking to you like this about this kind of thing either, because you don't deserve it. You deserve so much better because of all the great things you've done and what you went through to do them

"We love you here, Godzilla, because we know what and who you truly are deep down. So don't let any haters from beyond Equestria get you down! I promise one day they'll see the light when you have to step up and be a hero again!"

Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Princess Celestia looked to the little dragon with great surprise, although the princess of friendship also had pride mixed in. She had been so proud of Spike so many times before when he stepped up where it counted the most, but this was one of the times where she was proudest. Twilight couldn't keep from smiling as she came up to Spike as she put a hoof on his head before hugging him close to her. She wasn't the only one touched by his words, for Godzilla was emitting several soft growls as he smiled in appreciation. Then the kaiju king let out a low, growling roar.

"He said 'thank you, Spike,'" Fluttershy said with a smile.

This made the purple-scaled dragon beam brightly as well as he let out a laugh of joy. Godzilla looked from him to Twilight Sparkle.

"What Spike said is the absolute truth," Princess Twilight Sparkle said. "I promise you this unease with other nations is only temporary. You're too good of a being for it to not be."

"Absolutely," Princess Celestia spoke up, making all eyes fall on her. "Godzilla, you are among Equestria's greatest champions."

"Some have said the greatest of them all," Twilight agreed.

"You deserve to be treated better and so you shall," Princess Celestia said. "I promise I will do everything in my power to spread the good word that comes with your name to other nations."

"It's actually already started to an extent," Twilight Sparkle said. "Tourists from other nations that came to Equestria have been telling tales of what you've done for us here in Equestria. So that's a start. We just need to continue that good publicity in the public and in political sessions."

"I can send a word out to the newspapers to do so," Princess Celestia said.

"Like get interviews with ponies about what they've seen Godzilla do?" Fluttershy inquired.

"That and more," Princess Celestia said as she looked back to Godzilla. "So you see, my friend? It will all work out, you have my word... It'll just take time."

Godzilla's face was an inquisitive one as he stayed silent for a moment. Then, after several quiet, thought-filled seconds, he let out a low, bellowing roar.

"He wants to know what you want him to do," Fluttershy translated.

"Just... be more picky with where you swim to," Twilight Sparkle said. "Only for the meantime. But especially be picky about where you make landfall."

"Also... just for now... please avoid going near the Islands of the Rising Sun," Princess Celestia said. "There are ponies in power there still making a stink about you. They'll take any excuse they can get to ruin your reputation. I don't want them getting any fuel before we have a chance to clear your name."

Godzilla huffed again as he looked away, his face conveying anger and sadness. To the untrained eye, the anger would stick out more on what many would call a monstrous face. To Twilight and her friends, clearly, Godzilla was more saddened by this turn of events. As the king of the monsters looked back, though, he nodded his head before roaring out.

"He says okay, he'll do it," Fluttershy translated.

"Thank you, Godzilla, for your cooperation," Princess Celestia said. "It's more than I can say for _some_ politicians out there. This will play a big part in––"

Godzilla let out another, slightly more forceful roar as his facial expression turned hard and stern, getting everyone's attention.

"He just said on one condition," Fluttershy said.

"State it," Princess Celestia said.

Godzilla let out a bellowing roar followed by several short growls, shrieks, and a final roar.

"He wants you to destroy anything that says he's a citizen of Equestria in any way," Fluttershy said.

This got a gasp out of the others, making Godzilla let out several other roars.

"He says he understands why, but you're still taking away part of his independence," Fluttershy said. "So he wants us to give him back another part of it in return."

The others looked to Godzilla who looked as serious as a heart attack, which somepony could probably get looking at the monster king.

"Very well," Princess Celestia said, sounding as regretful as everyone else looked. "It will be done... Godzilla. Know that you'll still always have a place here, though."

Godzilla let out several growls as he nodded his head. He then let out a low bellow.

"He says 'thank you, Your Highness,'" Fluttershy translated.

"You're most welcome," Celestia said, forcing a smile. "And thank you again for understanding."

"Are–– are we okay?" Spike asked, making Godzilla look to him.

The king of the monsters responded with a nod of his head.

"Are we still friends?" Twilight Sparkle asked with concern.

Godzilla roared out several times. Everyone looked to see Fluttershy smiling, meaning it could only be good things Godzilla was saying.

"He says so long as we want his friendship, we'll always have it," Fluttershy said. "Because he will always want ours."

The others smiled to the king of the monsters just as he turned away and started heading back out to sea.

"Are you going to be okay, Godzilla?" Twilight Sparkle called out.

The leviathan of a creature gave no response as he walked further out towards the tides. His tail flicked up high into the air before slapping back down into the water. Godzilla's body submerged more and more as he walked on deeper in the ocean's depths. Then he finally dived forward and started to swim away, his back plates disappeared into the water soon after. And so a clearly dejected Godzilla, the undisputed king of monsters was gone but had left behind a few things for his friends on the cliff to think about.

* * *

_**2 Hours Later:**_

"So he took off like that," Starlight Glimmer said. "He said things were cool, didn't he? Godzilla probably just needed some time to cool off. You did say he was really upset, right?"

"You didn't see the look in his eyes, Starlight Glimmer," Spike replied. "He was furious."

The unicorn pony looked to Twilight Sparkle, who nodded her head, her expression being one of regret and despair. After getting back from meeting Godzilla, Twilight Sparkle and Spike came home to their castle to find Twilight's former student waiting there for them. When she'd asked how it went, they told her in full detail.

"Exactly," Starlight Glimmer said, despite her voice slightly shaking form uncertainty. "He was upset with the situation and needed to get away from it. Doesn't mean we have anything to worry about with him. Godzilla said he'd play ball and that he still has Equestria's back, especially with you guys'. Look, things just get... _rocky_ sometimes.

"When that happens, usually the best thing to do is give those who want some space... well, some space. Godzilla's stuck with you guys this long, I'm sure he still will despite this. Especially given all you guys have been through together already."

Twilight Sparkle looked to Starlight Glimmer and offered her a grateful smile.

"Thank you, Starlight Glimmer," Twilight Sparkle said.

"I had a good teacher," Starlight said with a wink. "You guys gonna be okay?" Twilight and Spike both nodded their heads. "Good, then I'll give you _your_ space. I have some things I need to catch up on anyways. Take care."

"You too," Twilight and Spike said together.

With that, Starlight Glimmer turned down a corridor and headed along her way.

"I think I'm gonna book it to my room too," Spike said.

The purple dragon started to walk away.

"Spike?" the violet-furred mare said questioningly.

This made her brother-like assistant turn back to her.

"Yeah, Twilight?" Spike asked.

"This whole situation with Godzilla's really got you upset, doesn't it?" Twilight Sparkle asked. The young fire-breather was quiet for a moment before nodding his head. "I understand, Spike. If you have more you want to say on this... please feel free to get it out now."

At first, the dragon welp was silent, not sure he could find non-aggressive or non-confrontational ways to say what he wanted. When he saw the look in Twilight's eyes, though, he knew she wanted him to pour his heart out.

"Okay, I'll say something," Spike said as he stood firm, his face conveying his anger. "This situation is completely ridiculous. Godzilla's been willing to spill his guts for us so many times in the past. Not just us, but for the whole world because all those monsters he fought could've gone after everyone else when they were done with Equestria. And how is he repaid?

"The rest of the world forces us to put Godzilla on a leash!... He deserves better than that. Godzilla, king of the monsters, a mighty and powerful hero... gets kenneled like a rabid dog ready to be put down."

"It's not quite like that," Twilight Sparkle said before hesitating a moment. "I do see what you mean, though, Spike,. This truly is a horrible and compromising situation. Not just for Godzilla, but Celestia, Luna, myself, and possibly all of Equestria, too... Still, the tough position we've been put in is nothing compared to the tough and unfair position Godzilla's in.

"Let us pray this gets resolved and Godzilla gets his freedom back soon... I'm sorry this has left him mad as he is... And I'm also sorry you're mad, too, Spike. In a way, I am myself. I just don't know what else to do right now."

Spike was silent for a moment as he observed the genuinely distraught look in his maternally sister-like figure's eyes.

"You know I'm not mad at you or Celestia, right, Twilight?" Spike asked. "I'm just mad at the situation."

"I know, Spike," Twilight said while forcing a smile.

Spike smiled back as he walked up and shared a quick hug with Twilight Sparkle.

"See you tomorrow then?" Spike inquired.

"Count on it," Twilight said as she beamed down at her number one assistant.

Spike then turned away and headed for his room while Twilight Sparkle watched. After a bit, her smile faded as she let out a sigh of exhaustion, disappointment, and aggravation. She looked to a hall window and saw the sun was slowly starting to lower from the sky. _Looks like it's about that time again,_ Twilight Sparkle thought to herself. Only instead of heading for her room, she felt the compulsion to head for the library.

When she got there, she was surprised to find just how dimly lit it was with only one or two lights in the middle of the large room of books. They were both tiny lamps on one of the library's tables, revealing an Earth pony stallion painting a rose with red, pink, and purple peddles on a white guitar. Of course, this tan-furred stallion was Thunder Jack, who turned in surprise when light from the halls outside the library shined through the crack of the now opened doors. He was both relieved and a bit embarrassed to see it was Twilight Sparkle, who was now looking at him questioningly.

"Hey, Sparkles," TJ let out in a pleasant voice as he smiled to his girlfriend. "Don't you ever sleep?"

"The sun's only just going down, Jacky," Twilight Sparkle responded.

"Huh," TJ said before turning away and going back to his painting. Then he said through the paintbrush in his mouth, "You couldn't tell if it was night or day in here."

"Maybe that's because you don't have more than one little light on," Twilight Sparkle said with a chuckle.

She then used her magic to turn on all the lights in the library. TJ put his brush down and looked to his special girl and smiled.

"Thanks, Sparks," TJ said. "The electric bills here must cost two front legs and a back, though."

"Eh, being royalty gets you some perks," Twilight Sparkle said. "Like official royal discounts on... everything."

"Nice," TJ said before turning back to the acoustic guitar he was painting. "Well... the paint needs to dry... but other than that, it's done. Come over here and tell me what you think, Twilight."

The violet alicorn mare walked up to TJ's side and gasped when she fully saw what he was working on.

"Oh, TJ, it's beautiful," Twilight Sparkle said. She then looked in surprise to see a violet electric guitar laying on the other side of the table with something painted on it as well. "Is that my cutie mark on that guitar?"

"Yeah," TJ said with a smile. "I was painting these for you... They were supposed to both have your cutie mark on them... but I decided to get a little creative when painting the acoustic."

"Ohh, TJ," Twilight Sparkle let out emotionally. "I love them both."

She put her hooves around TJ as she leaned up against his back. He smiled as he rubbed a hoof against those his girlfriend had lovingly wrapped around him.

"I'm glad you approve, sweetie," TJ said.

"They're both beautiful," Twilight Sparkle replied. "Thank you so much."

"That's what I'm here for," TJ said. "So, how did it go at the meeting today?"

Twilight Sparkle's loving smile shifted into a somber expression.

"Bleh," Twilight Sparkle let out.

"That good, huh?" TJ said with a soft chuckle.

"Worse," Twilight said. "Instead of the emperor of the Rising Sun coming to see us like what was supposed to happen, they sent the minister of foreign affairs. Oh, along with him they sent a representative of the governor who runs the island Godzilla showed up next to."

"Wow, he snubbed you?" TJ asked. "Seems kind of rude. What's a minister of foreign affairs anyways?"

"Basically someone who deals with the mass majority of international business and relations with other countries," Twilight Sparkle said.

"Like how you do as the princess of friendship making nice with other countries?" TJ asked.

"Eh... sort of, but dealing with much more than just friendship," Twilight Sparkle said.

"Ah," TJ said. "Well, then, it does kind of make sense he was sent then. Still, you'd think the emperor would keep his word and meet with you like he was supposed to."

"I'm sure there's a good reason why he couldn't," Twilight Sparkle said. "That's not the part that I'm mulling over, though."

"Oh?" TJ asked. "Well, what is it then, baby?"

Twilight Sparkle was silent for a moment before she took a deep breath.

"It was the attitude of the foreign minister himself," Twilight Sparkle said. "While the governor's representative seemed reasonable enough, the minister was calling for Godzilla's execution."

"_What?!_" TJ let out in shock.

"Ssshh, easy, TJ," Twilight said. "Yeah, I thought the same thing. He claimed he was afraid of what would happen if Godzilla had come ashore either on the Islands of the Rising Sun or anywhere else outside of Equestria... Now I can't get that out of my head."

"Well, that's not surprising," TJ said. "Some jerk just came in here judging Godzilla before getting to know the real him and just seeing him as a mindless monster and demanding his death. If I was there and I heard that moron spout that stuff, I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it either. Probably won't anyways after you just told me about it."

"Is he really a moron or a jerk, though?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

TJ raised an eyebrow.

"You're not trying to say he was right or justified, are you?" TJ asked.

"No, no!" Twilight said in a panicked tone. But then she hesitated a small moment before speaking on. "Not right... maybe a little justified. That's only because he represents a foreign nation that, for the most part, is experiencing Godzilla for the first time. He really could just be looking out for the nation's citizens and their best interest."

"Or he could be scared of the fact Equestria has a bigger defense than the Rising Sun does just on principle alone," TJ said.

"That's also a possibility," Twilight Sparkle said. "I simply don't know right now if this... Stern Brow was looking out for the Rising Sun's best interest or was pushing his own personal agenda in this case."

"It could easily be either-or," TJ said. "Could even be something else entirely. I'm no politician, but from what I gather, politics aren't really as clear cut black-and-white as folks make it out to be."

"They're really not," Twilight Sparkle said. "I always knew they weren't, but being in the middle of them myself now, I see there are many more variables and much more red tape than I'd ever realized before. Although I will say it's easy to see why some folks get that idea. On the surface, suits and ties, crowns and capes, they all seem exactly the same with the same goals. But if some creature was to look a little deeper, they'd see there's a lot more to it."

"Then there are the few that really are just black-and-white," TJ said.

"Pandas are politicians now?" Twilight Sparkle asked playfully.

"Hey, don't knock it," TJ said with a smile. "They're intelligent creatures... They'd probably be better suited than some of the fatcats in office right now."

The two shared a quick laugh and a kiss.

"Oh, you always make me feel better, TJ," Twilight Sparkle said happily.

"I'm glad I can be here for you and make you happy," TJ replied. "I always want to do right by you, Twilight, and let you know you're loved."

"You do every day," Twilight Sparkle said with a loving smile. "You're such a brave, strong pony with a big heart to match."

Suddenly a frown overtook the Earth pony's face, almost turning sad. This gave the alicorn princess pause as she looked to TJ with concern.

"Is there something wrong, TJ?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Huh?" TJ let out as he looked to his girlfriend. "Oh, no, no, no."

Twilight Sparkle gave him a serious glance as she tilted her head.

"Come on, Jacky," Twilight Sparkle said. "I know something's up. We've been together too long for me not to know. So tell me, please, what's on your mind?"

Thunder Jack seemed hesitant as he tried to think of how to discuss it with Twilight.

"The island," TJ finally said.

Twilight Sparkle instantly understood what her boyfriend meant as she nodded her head.

"Pony Tale Island," Twilight Sparkle replied. "I haven't forgotten either. Although I can't imagine the nightmare it was for you. I'll never act like I understand the way you do."

"Nightmare is right," TJ said. "I still have nightmares _because_ of what it was like on the island."

"I know," Twilight Sparkle said. "I hear you screaming at night sometimes... It breaks my heart each time. I want so much to come and comfort you. You're such a brave pony for going through all you did for so long on your own.

"All of you on the island were so brave to undertake fighting the minotaurs like that for so long."

For some reason, it felt like Twilight's words stung TJ more than they did help.

"I'd say you can come to comfort me if you want, Twilight... but I'm not sure I deserve it," TJ said.

"What do you mean?" Twilight Sparkle asked with concern. "Please tell me, TJ."

"Well... I mean..." TJ hesitated greatly, fearing what his girl's response would be. "I wasn't always the brave pony you think I am. Sometimes I doubt if I ever was so brave."

"How could you say that going through what you did?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Because some ponies had it far worse than me," TJ said, his voice getting slightly shaky and emotional, though it didn't break. "And I didn't always care." TJ looked to Twilight with trembling eyes. "You promise you'll still love me when I tell you this?"

"Of course I promise," Twilight Sparkle said as she kissed her boyfriend's cheek.

TJ looked away from Twilight and to the white acoustic guitar he was painting.

"When... my dad first brought me to the island... I was mad," TJ said. "I resented him uprooting my life the way he did. Sure, it wasn't a lot, but it was mine... Then we became familiar with the evil practices of the minotaurs running the place fairly quickly. That actually made me hate my dad, even more so when he volunteered our help without ever asking me how I felt about it.

"In all the time I kept as quiet as I could, never being able to find the right words to voice my... _displeasure_, let's say, on the situation."

"Were you able to tell him eventually?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Yeah," TJ said. "Yeah, I did... the same day I told him I understand and was ready to do my part in the good fight." TJ took a breath, sighing big as his voice and body shuttered. "Before that I... I tried to run... The day before I said that to Dad, I was trying to run away from that life.

"I didn't ask for it and I didn't want it at all. So I was gonna run. I got as far in the forest when... I saw it." There was a small break in TJ's voice at the end of his sentence. "There were these... minotaurs on a ledge...

"Th- They were... tying... this rope on the branch of a tree. I... I looked again and saw that... it was a noose."

"Oh, my gosh," Twilight Sparkle let out.

"They had a pony with them," TJ said as tears fell from his eyes. "They'd... they'd tied a sack over her head. Yeah, it was a poor mare they'd taken... They pulled the bag off her head and I saw... pure horror and fear in her eyes... Yeah, I knew... I knew what they were gonna do."

TJ shuttered more, making Twilight Sparkle put a hoof on his shoulder.

"TJ," Twilight Sparkle said in a soft, but emotional voice.

"Instead of doing something, I... I ran," TJ said. "It felt like I ran forever... But it wasn't fast or far enough... No, I... I heard the scream... and the snap of the rope... It stopped me dead in my tracks as I turned and looked back."

"What did you do?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"I ran back," TJ said emotionally. "It was too late of course, she was gone... So here was an innocent mare who... I could've saved, but... I was too scared... too selfish to try. So... after running back to Willowbrook and laying there in my bed sleeplessly the entire night, I... I pledged to myself and to everypony... I'd dedicate myself to the cause." TJ let out a heavy sigh before saying, "And that's the secret origin of Thunder Jack, the wonder pony... the freedom fighter, whatever."

"Oh, TJ," Twilight Sparkle said.

"We all have things we fight for, Twilight," TJ said. "We all have our reasons... our motivations. Mine just happens to be I was too selfish and scared to see something was worth fighting for at one point in life... While Godzilla's is that he's so selfless he knows right away when a cause is worth fighting for... just like you, Twi. I don't know exactly what this Stern Brow's reasons and motivations are, but... if they really are good... then you'll bring him and others like him around to seeing the light.

"You'll be able to lead others through the gray areas when it comes to Godzilla. You're a natural-born leader, a smart pony, a beautiful soul... as well as a beautiful pony in general."

Twilight Sparkle blushed as she smiled.

"Thank you, TJ," Twilight said before kissing him.

"I'm so proud to be yours because I know you're all these wonderful things," TJ said with a smile. "You can do these wonderful things, show other ponies how to do them, too. You'll show other nations how to deal with Godzilla and show Godzilla how to deal with other nations. Probably gonna take some time, though."

"I guarantee it will," Twilight Sparkle said. "It'll be worth it, though. Thank you, TJ... for being so supportive and... sharing your secret origin with me." Both ponies felt a little bad about making light of such a horrible moment, but they tried to move past it, giving each other a quick hug. "TJ?"

"Yes, babe?" TJ replied.

"Will you... sleep with me tonight?" Twilight Sparkle requested. "I don't want to be alone."

TJ looked a bit surprised, but a kiss from Twilight instantly lit up his face.

"I'd be glad to, Sparkles," the stallion said.

This made Twilight Sparkle smile as she headed for the library door with TJ in tow.

"I love you, Thunder Jack."

"I love you too, Twilight Sparkle."

* * *

The darkness of night had come and Anguirus was resting on the beach. Ir was the very same beach where he and Godzilla came ashore when they first discovered the uninhabited island that they had pretty much made their home. Although a bit tired, the four-legged monster didn't feel like sleeping, wanting instead to wait for his very close friend– actually his very best friend in the world in all honesty– to come home. Godzilla had not yet returned from his travels to Equestria, having left hours ago when it was still twelve 'clock in the afternoon. Now it was about twenty-eight minutes past ten in the evening and while the spiky shelled Anguirus wasn't worried at all about his friend's wellbeing, he was lonely.

Anguirus knew full well that Godzilla was more than capable of taking care of himself, so he never worried about his bipedal companion. The quadrupedal monster just sat and waited for him to come back in hopes they would do something together like they usually did. A large part of him was actually starting to wish he had gone with Godzilla to Equestria despite not feeling up to it before. After spending three months randomly wandering the country looking for open fields where he could sleep, he felt more stable and secure having an actual home on his and Godzilla's island. Not that he hated Equestria; it was still a very beautiful place and Anguirus wanted to visit it again soon, but not just yet.

So the ankylosaurus-like kaiju stayed behind waiting for Godzilla, a decision he was starting to regret. That is until the moment when it felt like his eyelids were trying to force themselves shut and his ears suddenly picked up a disturbance in the water. This shot his eyes wide open as he stood up on his four feet and started to sniff the air for a familiar scent. Upon picking up said scent and confirming who it belonged to, Anguirus smiled before letting out one of his near haunting howls of a roar. He waited and listened and not three seconds later to he get a familiar bellow in response.

Anguirus got all the more excited as he stood and waited. It felt like no time at all before he suddenly spotted a rise in the water that was coming ever closer to the island's beach. The ecstatic Anguirus roared out once more, lifting up on his hind legs before dropping down to all fours again. Soon three rows of familiar maple leaf-shaped plates ivory white in color popped out of the water, rising over the ocean's surface. Then the rise in the water got even bigger before dispersing in a big wave as Godzilla stood up in the water and roared out to his waiting friend.

Anguirus howled again, smiling brightly as he watched Godzilla come up onto the beach. He was so happy to see his friend, he didn't seem to notice the less than pleased demeanor of the kaiju king. Godzilla decided not to bring any attention to it, instead just walking up as Anguirus scooted to the side to get out of his way, looking up and smiling all the while. His best friend's happiness at having him back prompted Godzilla to stop and force a smile as he gently placed his hand on the top of Anguirus' head. After a couple of seconds, Godzilla then removed his hand and made his way further onto the island, going beyond the beach.

As he watched the king of monsters go, it was then that Anguirus noticed something was up and looked on with concern. Treading carefully, the four-legged monster walked after Godzilla, being sure to keep a respectable distance between the two of them. He looked on at Godzilla all the while, trying to figure out what could be so wrong it made his friend hang his head. Anguirus also felt an air of great anger within the king of the monsters in addition to the sadness he felt. He never asked Godzilla about it, though, instead just following in silence until the king of the monsters stopped in a partially grassy, partially rocky field surrounded by small hills and rises in the ground.

Then Godzilla lowered himself to a sit, not being as careful about it as he was when in Equestria. Here he could be more himself, not worrying so much about how he stepped, where he stepped, how loud he roared, anything like that. Here, in this environment, Godzilla could fully embrace his size, his nature, who and what he was. That seemed to be of little comfort as Godzilla hung his head, his temper high because of the proceedings that happened during his visit to Equestria. He made a promise to his friends and he intended to keep it, but it didn't mean he had to like it (actually outright hating it like no one could ever imagine).

As Godzilla looked up at the moon, he let out a few soft, but aggravated growls and chitters. Then he felt a paw on his right shoulder and turned to see Anguirus at his side, smiling supportively. Anguirus let out a short yelp to Godzilla, making him actually smile as he roared back in appreciation. Then the two friends looked up at the bright white moon in the sky. Godzilla started to feel more at peace, his anger and sadness subsiding, being replaced with gratitude he had a friend like Anguirus to come into his life.

All of a sudden, Godzilla's ears twitched and his eyes widened before he stood up. This surprised Anguirus, who walked back a few steps to give his friend room to stand. Godzilla turned in the direction of Equestria and sniffed the air, prompting Anguirus to do the same. While his ears weren't as good as Godzilla's, his sniffer was twice that of the king of the monsters', so he quickly picked up what his friend was sensing. This new scent caused Anguirus some concern but was surprised to look back and see Godzilla smiling.

This confused Anguirus, not knowing what Godzilla saw in this development. Whereas they would both usually be on high alert and be getting ready to fight, Godzilla actually saw an opportunity. A chance to prove something to the entire world who had not embraced him and Anguirus yet. A chance to prove that kaiju can co-exist with the rest of the world.

**THE END**

* * *

**And so that's the first story in volume 2 of the Godzilla-My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic short story collections. Let me apologize in advance if any Japanese readers I may or may not have get offended in any way with how I portrayed or described what's clearly meant to be MLP:FIM's equivalent of Japan with the Islands of the Rising Sun. I am not trying to offend anyone or reinforce any sort of racially or culturally insensitive Japanese stereotypes. I did research and tried to apply it as best as I could in writing this story (while keeping it in line with lore I'm establishing for the series). If you feel I didn't do enough and were still upset with this portrayal, please do let me know. Call me out and hold me accountable for any ignorance I may have displayed here. **

**Also, I am aware the emperor in Japan doesn't have any actual power or authority. Especially in modern days where it's more so a formality or tradition to have one while elected government officials run the country. I just wanted an emperor in power for the sake of this story and future stories to come in the series. Also, the Islands of the Rising Sun are clearly suppose to be a mix of older and newer culture and society the same way Equestria is. **

**Other than all that, I hope everyone enjoyed this story and I hope you'll tell me in a review or even if you have constructive criticisms, tell me those too. I hope you've enjoyed this series so far and will enjoy the future entries to come. I'm the Writer of the Storm, signing off. **


	2. Swamp Wild

**I don't own 'Godzilla' nor 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'. 'Godzilla' is a trademark of Toho Co. Ltd. and 'My Little Pony' in all its incarnations is owned by Hasbro.**

* * *

**"Swamp Wild"**

* * *

_The map of friendship in Twilight's castle calls forth its most unique auxiliary yet to solve serious problems taking place far south in one of the most secluded and dangerous areas in Equestria. However, these problems are a bit BIGGER and far more monstrous than the usual friendship problems the map calls on aids to resolve.  
_

* * *

_Takes place after Season 8, Episode 7, "Horse Play"_

* * *

The Slog Troll Swamp was a rather unique piece of land on the very ends of Equestria. It was far south-west, being cutoff from most forms of civilization, the closest example being Kluetown (although it was debatable if that counted as civilization). Even then, there were several thousand miles separating the desert town and the swampy territory, half of those miles being filled by the Sea of Clouds, a mysterious perpetual storm system. On top of that, a river leading out to the south sea separated the swamp from the Pine Needle Barrens and Basalt Beach. So basically, this slimy, moist, humid, disgusting swamp was almost completely isolated from the rest of Equestria.

So it was easy for one to forget it even existed at all, as was the fact that there actually were a few ponies living out there. Despite living in one of the smaller territories that was so isolated and on the very far tip of the country, the residents there still tried to make the best of it. Easier said than done as it was a very inhospitable environment, but for the few ponies living there, it was all they knew. Shockingly, living in such a dumpy place filled with all sorts of strange creatures and swamp monsters had actually come to be like a part of everyday life for them. Despite living such a lifestyle, none of these hermit-like ponies had any idea or were prepared at all for what would befall the Slog Troll Swamp.

On that day, a short, portly, slime green Earth pony stallion with a gray beard, mane, and tail sat in a rocking chair on his front porch. Said porch overlooked a sludgy, inhospitable-looking bayou, which his shack had been built on the side of. The middle-aged pony wore blue, torn up overalls and a red bandana tied around his head. His mother was in the shack cooking up a late lunch for him while he was just rocking in his chair looking out at the swamp, hating the sight of it. He never liked living in the swamp but was always unsure of what to do about it.

He also felt his mother still needed him and he knew she couldn't take trying to leave the swamp, not at her age. Although he never shook the feeling there had to be a life better than a swamp-dwelling one. As he thought about it, the chubby Earth pony found himself starting to fall asleep rocking in his chair with bitter thoughts swirling in his head. He tried his best to fight passing out, though, not wanting to be rude and fall asleep while his mom was making him food.

"_Rolley, your lunch is ready!_" the Earth pony's mother called out in a thick Cajun accent.

The stallion's eyes widened as he sat up straight in his rocker.

"_Okay, thanks, Mama Dear!_" Rolley called back in an even thicker accent.

The green-furred stallion smiled, being grateful he had such a loving mother in his life that did so much for him. _She deserves better than this life,_ he always thought to himself. Rolley looked out bitterly at the swamp, hued by a sludgy green. Somehow it highlighted the scummy greens, sickly yellows, and gross browns that made up the majority of the environment's color pallet. The sight sickened Rolley, making him scoff in resentment before getting up to go inside his home.

Before he could go through the open doorway, though, his ears picked up something. It was almost as if all the churning, bubbling, and other sounds of the swamp had been amplified. Then they were suddenly muted by a sound and sensation far more alarming.

"_Earthquake!_" Rolley shouted as he looked out to the swamp.

Everything was moving and vibrating because of the violent shaking of the earth, looking even more alive than it usually did. It was unnatural, though, for the murky water splashed about as the ground rose and cracked, and trees either barely managed to stay standing, had parts break off of them, or fell altogether. It truly seemed like the whole swamp was alive and it horrified Rolley to see.

"_Mama!_" Rolley shouted with worry as he tried to get into his shack.

"_I'm here, Rolley!_" Mama Dear shouted back from inside, terror being laced in her voice.

Rolley was almost in the door when he heard an extra loud cracking in the earth's crust. He looked and gasped to see the bayou was rising. Or at least a big section was, along with parts of the land surrounding it. It was a terrifying sight to Rolley, even more so when he realized the rise in the area was getting dangerously close to his shack.

"_Mama!_" Rolley shouted.

Suddenly a younger, turquoise unicorn mare with a white mane and tail appeared. She grabbed Rolley and then used her teleportation magic to take them both inside. Then she grabbed Mama Dear, a yellow-furred, gray-maned elderly Earth pony, and then teleported her and her son out of the shack just before it was destroyed. They reappeared on the far side of the bayou, which wasn't suffering as much from the effects of the rise in the land.

"Mama, you okay?!" Rolley asked as he smiled gratefully and hugged her.

"I'm fine, child," Mama Dear said, her voice shaking with emotion as she hugged her son back. "Just fine." They then looked to the unicorn who was looking out at the area of the swamp, which continued to rise. "Thank you so much, Ruby Rare. How can we ever–– ?"

"Look," Ruby said as she pointed a hoof. "It's... _it's alive!_"

Suddenly a loud bellowing croak filled the air and echoed on for several miles. Rolley and Mama Dear looked to see the shape that had arisen in the wake of the earthquake that shook up the Slog Troll Swamp.

"_Oh, my word!_" Mama Dear exclaimed.

"In the name of all creation," Rolley lee out in awe and terror.

It seemed so impossible, despite the creatures that inhabited all of Equestria, or even the swamp alone, including the slog trolls it was named after. What the three swamp ponies were seeing just seemed too incredible, even with all of that in mind. Still, it was right there before their very eyes, coming up out of the swamp almost as if the murky marshlands had birthed it. It was covered in swamp matter with some pieces looking like they were either attached to or sticking out of its bumpy, reptilian skin. It had splashes of swamp green, sickly yellow, and gross brown all over its body underneath the swamp matter covering it along with two rows of tiny curved spikes going down its back.

What the swamp ponies saw at that moment was a titanic, yellow-eyed swamp frog. The giant monster let out another bellowing croak as it lifted one of its long, thick front legs out of the swamp and high in the air, revealing a claw-toed foot. It slammed its foot back down, sending swamp vegetation and earth flying all over the place. Then the giant frog pushed itself upward, lifting its entire body out of the bog.

The giant frog monster looked around for a bit before it started walking forward. It took several steps before it suddenly leaped through the air, sailing several kilometers before crashing down again. The ground shook violently upon impact, taking Rolley, Mama Dear, and Ruby Rare off their hooves. They had been watching the frog the entire time it rose, each moment filling their hearts more and more with horror. The trio of swamp dwellers were already terrified beyond belief, but that display of jumping prowess doubled their already immense dread.

"_Mama Dear, you alright?!_" a distraught Rolley asked as he and Ruby Rare got up and tried to help the elderly mare.

"With that giant frog on the loose, son... none of us are gonna be alright," Mama Dear said in a foreboding tone.

The frog lifted its head into the air as it croaked out again, sounding much more intimidating and fear-inducing than a common swamp frog's croak.

"What in all the earth can be done about this thing?" Ruby Rare wondered out loud. "What could possibly help us now?"

* * *

_**48 Miles West of the Slog Troll Swamp:**_

The time had come and he knew it.

A familiar set of ivory white plates stuck out of the water as the great saurian they belonged to swam in the direction of the Slog Troll Swamp to confront a new giant beast. The triple rows seemed to cut through the water even faster, for the monster they were attached increased his swimming speed as he got closer. Swimming through the South Luna Sea, the king of the monsters had felt this presence a few days ago, but did not act on it right away. He waited for what he felt was the right time to make his move and set his plan into action. It would seem that time had come, for, with the official awakening of this other beast, the opportunity had finally come to see if the kaiju king was right in his goals.

At this point, one could only hope so, otherwise, death and destruction could be spread far and wide as a consequence of the saurian's error in judgment. So the king of the monsters swam on, preparing to meet this new monster face-to-face... and to beat it down if necessary. The monster of might kept his focus squarely on the journey and what may be awaiting him at the end of it. He was so focused he never even noticed the strange flashes of blue light that started to dance up and down his backplates. Flashes of outside magical origins, not of his own making.

* * *

_**The Castle of Friendship, Ponyville:**_

Twilight Sparkle was enjoying some quiet alone time with her boyfriend, Thunder Jack in the library. The violet alicorn smiled down at her lover, who's head was resting in her lap as he laid down on the couch they were sharing. TJ smiled lovingly back up at the mare of his dreams as she brought a hoof down and stroked the side of his mane. The two had been in the library for several hours, having previously enjoyed some mostly quiet reading together. They would occasionally stop and tell each other about what they were reading, enjoying what the other had to say. They sometimes even exchanged books to read after they were both done.

Now they were just enjoying quietly cuddling together with love-struck smiles on their faces. Twilight Sparkle leaned down as TJ lifted his head a little so the two could exchange a kiss. Then all of a sudden––

"_Twilight!_" Spike shouted as he came bursting through the library doors.

This sudden and loud interruption after such an extended time of quiet sent both ponies flying up into the air as they screamed in surprise. Only a second after they crashed back down to the ground were they up again as they both looked at the young dragon with expressions so furious, they could probably kill.

"_SPIKE!_" they both let out at the same time.

"_What are you doing surprising us like that?!_" Twilight Sparkle let out.

"_Seriously, you almost gave us both a heart attack!_" TJ added on.

"_You both need to come to the throne room now!_" Spike said, not even being phased by the two ponies' anime-like display of anger. "_You are NOT gonna believe who the map is calling this time!_"

This instantly grabbed both ponies' attention, making them look on with surprise and intrigue. They exchanged a quick look before turning back to the young purple dragon and nodding their heads.

"Show us, Spike," Twilight Sparkle said.

With that, the dragon welp went through the library doors with Twilight and TJ following in hot pursuit. When they got into the throne room, Starlight Glimmer was there waiting for them, having been with Spike earlier when they both stumbled upon the discovery.

"Twilight, look at this!" Starlight Glimmer exclaimed as she pointed a hoof. "It's unbelievable!"

The others came up to the side of the table opposite from the unicorn mare and looked. Spike turned to see Twilight and TJ's reactions, which were both gasping surprise.

"No way!" TJ let out.

"Is it really possible?" Twilight Sparkle said in stunned awe.

"Oh, it's the real deal alright," Spike said reassuringly. "I almost didn't believe it myself."

"We both had to do a double-take when we first found it," Starlight Glimmer explained.

Twilight Sparkle and TJ moved around the magical table, looking at its map from multiple angles so they could be sure of what they saw. By the time they came up next to Starlight Glimmer, with Spike in tow, there was no doubt about what they were seeing.

"This is just too crazy to believe!" Twilight Sparkle said.

"Then why is it right here in front of our eyes?" TJ asked.

On the map was a black shape surrounded by a blue hued magical aura. It was a silhouette, one most familiar to the group looking at the map of friendship. It was a head, torso, a single arm outstretched, and a tail that looped around the body and extended pass the head slightly. It also had quite familiar-looking plates going from the top of the reptilian head, getting bigger down the back, and then small again to the end of the tail.

"Godzilla," the group of four in the throne room said together.

Despite lacking legs and being somewhat stylized, the shape and image of Godzilla was still a very recognizable, iconic one. That was especially for ponies who had seen the king of the monsters up close many times and from having known him on a personal level like these four did. Despite that, Twilight, Spike, TJ, and Starlight all still had a hard time believing they were seeing what they saw.

"So... is this real?" a still stunned TJ asked.

"I think so," Starlight Glimmer said. "Although I've honestly had doubts about that myself, despite looking at it for so long."

"Look!" Spike said as he pointed.

A second image of the stylized Godzilla silhouette appeared on the table, this one being more see-through. Most intriguing of all was that the second image was moving towards the first that had appeared, a dotted line connecting the two.

"What could it mean?" TJ asked.

"I believe the first, more solid one is where Godzilla needs to go," Twilight Sparkle explained.

"And the second one that's moving is where he actually is?" Starlight Glimmer suggested.

"Precisely," Twilight Sparkle confirmed.

"If so, he was already dang close to where he needed to go before the map called him," Spike said.

"Wow, what a coincidence," TJ said.

"I don't think it is," Twilight Sparkle said. "I think he was already on his way there before the map called him."

"You mean, he knew his mission even before the map called him for it?" Starlight Glimmer asked.

"Then why did the map even bother?" Spike asked.

"I don't know," Twilight Sparkle said. "Even I haven't been able to fully figure out how and why the map works the way it does."

Suddenly Twilight, Starlight, and TJ's cutie marks along with Spike's map icon appeared alongside the Godzilla silhouette hovering in place on the map. They gasped as they all checked themselves. Spike's green plates running from the top of his head down his back to his tail were flashing green while the ponies' cutie marks were glowing.

"It's calling us to this place now?" TJ asked.

"Where even is that place?" Spike asked as he looked at the map. "It looks like it's just barely a speck of land at the end of Equestria."

"The south end to be exact," Starlight Glimmer said. "More exact being the very edge of the south-west."

"Hmm," Twilight Sparkle let out. "If memory serves me right."

"And it usually does," TJ said with a smile and a wink.

This made Twilight smile lovingly.

"That's the Slog Troll Swamp," Twilight Sparkle finished.

"Never heard of it," Spike said.

"Same," TJ added.

"I think I did once," Starlight Glimmer said.

Twilight Sparkle teleported back to the library and got a book on Equestria's geography. She teleported back to the map room and opened up the book using her telekinesis, flipping through the pages until she landed on the one she was looking for.

"Yeah, the Slog Troll Swamp," Twilight Sparkle said. "It's a marshland where hardly any ponies live because of how inhospitable the environment is. The boggy, swampy, humid climate, the creatures that live there, all sorts of monsters, including the slog trolls the swampland is named after."

"And the map wants us to go there?" TJ asked with uncertainty.

"Along with Godzilla," Starlight Glimmer reaffirmed.

"Why, though?" TJ asked. "Seems so random to me."

"It doesn't matter," Twilight Sparkle replied, sounding serious. "What does is that we've been called by the map and we have a responsibility to answer the call. I intend to do just that. Who's with me?"

"You know I am!" Spike exclaimed.

"Same here!" Starlight Glimmer agreed.

"Of course!" TJ said as he turned his head. He looked at his girlfriend and then their friends with them. "It'll be my first map mission. I'll be glad and honored for it to be with all of you. Especially you, Sparkles."

TJ winked at Twilight, who smiled in an almost sultry manner before they shared a kiss.

"So how are we gonna get there?" Spike asked.

"That's right," Starlight Glimmer said in realization. "It already looks pretty far on the map as it is. I imagine it's much farther away in person."

"It'd probably take us several hours to a day to get there," Spike said. "That's even without stops and using the balloon."

"By the time we get there, Godzilla will probably be done with whatever was going on," Starlight Glimmer said.

"Leave that... to me," Twilight Sparkle said confidently. "Put on your walking horseshoes, everypony, we're going... to Canterlot."

* * *

Godzilla's mighty form started to rise out of the water, for he was finally coming upon his destination. The land (if you can call it that) of the Slog Troll Swamp was not that far away from the kaiju king. He could see its gross contents from where he stood, just being below his knees in the ocean water. Godzilla let out a mighty roar as his tail swung up in the air before crashing back down into the water. The king of the monsters suddenly felt something was off and turned away from the swamp to get a good side look at himself via his reflection in the water's surface.

It was then that he finally noticed his spikes were glowing not of his will. This confused the kaiju king to see this light blue, sparkling, almost ethereal light dancing up and down his back spikes not of his making. He wasn't scared, nor particularly worried about it since this didn't seem to be hurting him or affecting him in any way other than his spikes were glowing. Besides, he was probably going to end up making them glow himself at some point on his quest anyways. While still curious and a bit confused, Godzilla quickly shoved all this into the back of his mind.

Then the king of the monsters turned back to the Slog Troll Swamp to go do what he had to. With yet another roar, the mighty Godzilla started to head into swamp territory ready to take on what warts awaited him ahead. Just so long as he had a chance to try out his plan.

* * *

Twilight Sparkle led Spike, TJ, and Starlight Glimmer down one of the many large, majestic corridors in the Canterlot royal castle. The three following the alicorn princess were still confused as to why she even brought them here. They had all tried to keep an open mind, but it was eating at them to ask why they went to the royal palace in the country's capital.

"Hey, Twilight?" Spike finally spoke up.

"Yes, Spike?" asked a smiling Twilight.

"I gotta know something," Spike said. "While I trust you a lot and all, I was wondering if you could tell me exactly what we're doing here. You know, going in the opposite direction of the Slog Troll Swamp when we should be heading there instead of going further away from it?"

"Gotta admit, Sparks, I've been wondering about that myself," TJ said.

"Wow, I'm honestly surprised it took you this long to ask," Twilight Sparkle said with a giggle.

The others looked to one another for a moment before looking back to the princess of friendship.

"So?" Starlight Glimmer let out.

"Trust me, you'll all have your answers in a bit," Twilight Sparkle said as she turned and led them down another hall.

The others were surprised to see they'd come across what looked to be a dead end. They looked to each other questioningly before seeing Twilight Sparkle still smiling as she walked up ahead and her horn started to glow. Soon there was a glowing symbol on the wall, which then started to slide back before sliding to the side, revealing a secret passageway. The others gaped with amazement at this development.

"Wait here," Twilight Sparkle said. "I'll be right back."

The alicorn pony flapped her wings and flew into the passage in the wall, which led her down deep into a set of catacombs. When she got to the bottom, there were at least forty royal guards there waiting, all of them armed to the teeth and standing in front of a huge, thick vault. Twilight Sparkle landed and walked up to the guards, one of them stepping up to her.

"Alpha," the stallion let out.

"Centaurus," Twilight Sparkle responded.

The stallion stepped aside, as did all the other guards, letting Twilight Sparkle walk up to the vault, which she then opened up using her magic. As the giant vault door opened, Twilight Sparkle stepped into the large safe where but only a single item sat on a podium. There was a single light illuminating a familiar glowing object; a powerful item that Twilight Sparkle had used before.

"Hello again, old friend," Twilight Sparkle said to the red Alpha Stone. "You're needed once more."

She used her telekinesis to lift the stone off its stand and then turned it into the Elements of Harmony-like necklace she'd turned it into once before. She then draped it over herself before exiting the vault, flying off as the guards wished her well and closed up the vault. Twilight Sparkle flew back up to where she'd left her friends, surprising them a bit when she came flying out. As she landed, the powerful alicorn used her magic to close the wall up behind her. The others all looked to Twilight Sparkle, all of them gasping as they instantly recognized the item she brought with her.

"Is that––?" TJ let out.

"The red Alpha Stone," Twilight Sparkle confirmed. "I thought it'd be best to keep it here in the royal castle. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna agreed."

"So you're gonna use it to get us to the swamp?" Starlight Glimmer asked.

"Yep," Twilight Sparkle said before using her magic to activate the Alpha Stone's power.

In a flash, the quartet of friends was gone, having left the halls of the castle for greener pastures... and most disgusting ones.

* * *

**_The Slog Troll Swamp:_**

Ruby Rare did her absolute best to lead what few other swamp-dwelling ponies she could find to safety. It was extremely difficult, though, both finding and navigating ponies through the heavily dense vegetation and boggy environment of the overly humid swamp. It wasn't made any easier by the other creatures of the swamp freaking out because of what was happening that day. Spiders, alligators, swamp serpents, owls, and even the 16-foot-tall, green bumpy skinned, hulking slog trolls ran with fear despite how monstrous they seemed in their own right. None of those creatures who resided in the swamp could contain their terror at the titanic fate that had befallen their home.

Ruby Rare and the ponies she led were forced to stop when the entire area shook violently. A few ponies actually lost their footing and fell into the swampy water they'd been trying to navigate through. The only saving graces were that it wasn't that deep where they were and the majority of Ruby's admittedly small group didn't fall. They weren't out of the swamp yet, though, as they were reminded of by the echoing bellow of a croak from the monster frog nearby.

"That's what I figured," Ruby Rare said.

No doubt the sudden quake was caused by the hopping of the giant frog nearby, the same one the swamp seemed to spew out like a curse upon its residence.

"We can't keep dealing with this for much longer, Ruby cher," Rolley said as he helped his mother stand. "This swamp is already the pits to get through as it is. What we gonna do now with a dang monster frog hopping all over here?"

"We need a miracle," a little purple pegasus filly in the group said.

Suddenly, almost as if in response, there was a light up ahead of the group. An ethereal flash that made a sort of mystical swooshing sound and even seemed to make the ground shake a little. After three or four seconds, the light disappeared, leaving the swamp ponies who saw it confused at what had just happened. Ruby Rare looked to Rolley and Mama Dear who just stared back at her.

"One miracle coming up?" Mama Dear suggested.

The bellowing croak of the giant frog nearby caught everypony's attention again, most of them yelping and shuddering in fear.

"I sure hope so," Ruby Rare said as she led the others on towards where the light came from.

It wasn't long before they came upon the closest thing such a dense swamp had to a clearing. They all gasped to see four individuals standing nearby, ones none of them had ever seen.

"Yep, this is certainly a swamp alright," Starlight Glimmer let out in a disgusted and aggravated tone.

"It's even worse than I thought it would be," TJ said. "The humidity could choke a dragon."

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Spike let out as he held his hands to his mouth trying to keep his cookies down.

"Come on, you guys," Twilight Sparkle said. "It may not be pretty to look at, but the map called us here for a reason."

"Who are y'all?" Ruby Rare asked as she walked up to the newcomers, her flock following close behind.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship," the violet-furred alicorn introduced herself. She then turned to the others. "These are my friends, Starlight Glimmer, Spike, and my boyfriend, TJ. We're here to help."

"Wait, a princess?" Ruby Rare asked. "Did you say a princess?"

"Uh... yes," Twilight Sparkle said, feeling slightly awkward. "I came here with my friends to help out with... whatever's going on here."

"So you gonna help us deal with the monster here, princess cher?" Rolley asked.

"Did you just say... monster?" Spike asked nervously.

Suddenly another bellow erupted through the air.

"What you think that was?" Mama Dear said. "A church bell?"

Suddenly the ground started to shake from the steps of the giant beast the swamp ponies had been trying to avoid.

"It's found us," Ruby Rare said. She then looked angrily to the newcomers. "No doubt it saw your little light show and followed it here."

"Please, just give us a chance," Twilight Sparkle said. "We'll make it right, I promise. What is this monster?"

Suddenly the sounds of trees and other terrain snapping and breaking and being smashed aside were heard as the ground started to shake. Everyone turned and looked in horror to see the giant frog coming their way.

"It's that," Ruby Rare said as she pointed a hoof.

The monstrous frog lifted its head into the air and bellowed again, letting it ring out across the way. It was fairly far away, but that didn't stop the sight of it from being horrifying to look at. The gross, ugly, gigantic form was too disgusting of a sight not to look at in terror of some kind.

"What in the name of Celestia?" TJ let out.

"Is that... a frog kaiju?" Starlight Glimmer asked, a shake in her voice.

"It's impossible," Twilight Sparkle let out in a stunned tone.

"I'd be telling you the same thing if I didn't see it for myself, child," Mama Dear said. "But it's right there... and I'm a thinking it's looking for some food. I'd reckon regular old swamp flies won't be enough to set its growling belly either."

"I don't want to become pony gumbo!" an Earth pony colt let out as he started to cry.

"It's not gonna come to that!" TJ said as he looked to the swamp ponies. "We came here to help and that's just what we're gonna do. We're gonna help you and we're gonna get you all out of this mess. You have my word."

"What all needs to be done?!" Starlight Glimmer asked.

"We just need to get out of this here swamp," a pegasus stallion said.

"No, there are still others we need to find," a middle-aged unicorn mare said. "I know there are still other ponies out there who need our help."

Twilight Sparkle's attention was instantly taken from the frog monster back to the ponies before her and her friends.

"Who's in charge here?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"I am. My name's Ruby Rare."

"Ruby, you take these ponies with you like you were before," Twilight Sparkle said. "Pick up whoever you can along the way, but make escaping your main priority."

"What about the others?" Ruby Rare asked.

"Leave that to us," Spike said. "We'll find them and get them out of here."

Ruby Rare tilted her head to the side.

"You know, you look mighty gator-like for a pony," she said in confusion.

"I'm a dragon," Spike said. "You've never seen one in person before, have you?"

"Sorry, no," Ruby said. "Most sincere apologies."

"It's all good," Spike replied.

"Spike's right, though," Twilight Sparkle interjected. "We'll stay behind and look for any stragglers we can. You just get these ponies out of here. Can you do that, Ruby Rare?"

"Yes, I can, Princess Twilight Sparkle," Ruby Rare said. "Thank you for the kindness of you and your friends."

"That's what friends are for," Twilight said with a smile.

TJ, Starlight, and Spike all smiled reassuringly as well, Spike even nodding his head. Some of the swamp ponies smiled as well before their attention was taken by another bellow from the frog. They all looked and watched as the horrifying sight of a beast lowered its head down and started munching on some of the swamp's vegetation and whatever else it picked up.

"Get going!" Twilight Sparkle said.

"Right!" Ruby Rare responded. She then looked to the ponies she was leading. "_Let's go!_"

"Oh, one more thing!" Starlight Glimmer said. This got the swamp ponies' attention. "Another monster will be showing up soon. You have nothing to worry about, though. He's only here to deal with the frog.

"I promise you beyond all doubt that the second monster is here to help. He's a friend of ours."

Twilight, Spike, and TJ confirmed what their unicorn friend was saying and though the swamp ponies still seemed unsure and a bit confused, they still went along their way. They wanted to get as far away from the giant frog as their hooves could carry them. Twilight Sparkle even used her magic to harness the power of the red Alpha Stone still around her neck and teleported the group much further away from the giant monster.

"Yeah, I think it's safe to assume that frog's why the map called Godzilla here," Starlight Glimmer said.

"Without a doubt," TJ said.

"Where did that thing come from, though?" Spike wondered as he and the others gazed at the frog.

"Who the heck really knows?" TJ said.

"I think I do," Twilight Sparkle replied. The others looked to her questioningly. "It's only a guess... but I'm willing to bet that frog is Maraveck."

"Who?" TJ let out.

"Mara-what?" Spike inquired further.

"A monster created by the evil and vile Grogar many thousands of years ago," Twilight Sparkle said. She then turned to the monster when it bellowed again. "Only, it was much smaller than this thing is... But otherwise it looks just like how the monster was described in my books."

"But what's it doing here after so long?" TJ asked.

"And how did it get so big then if it is that Maraveck thing?" Starlight Glimmer asked.

"I have no idea," Twilight Sparkle said as she put her game face on. "That's not our concern right now, though. We have to comb this swamp from bog to slimy bog for any ponies left behind. Spike, you go with Starlight Glimmer and look for ponies stranded in the swamp... Try to keep as low of a profile as you can, though. I don't want you grabbing Mr. Toadstool's attention...

"You know what, just be careful in general. This swamp could have a few other surprises in store for us."

"Roger," Spike said as he saluted.

"Check," Starlight Glimmer added.

As they headed off to do as they were instructed, Twilight Sparkle turned to her boyfriend.

"You're with me, Jacky," Twilight Sparkle said.

"You know I always am, beautiful," TJ said with a wink.

After a smile of appreciation, Twilight Sparkle exchanged a kiss with Thunder Jack and the two were off to find anypony who needed their help.

* * *

Maraveck croaked out as it stomped along its way through the inhospitable terrain of the Slog Troll Swamp. What was such a chore for most other living creatures to get through, even half the inhabitants of the swamp itself, was merely a walk in the park for the titanic toad of terror. It was so huge and mighty, whenever it moved, any so-called obstacles would instantly be crushed or pushed aside and out of its way. So, even though his massive hops could carry the monster wherever he wanted, Maraveck trudged along, occasionally stopping to gulp up something to eat. However, it was not just the vegetation and swamp matter it feasted upon, but whatever creatures were unlucky enough to be in the area when Maraveck went to take a bite.

The creature of mayhem was hungry and looked to assert his will upon the swamplands all around him. He cared not what possible innocent lives he took in the process, be it by crushing them under his massive girth or by consuming them in his belly. The menacing frog kaiju named Maraveck by an onlooker croaked out to announce his intention to assert dominance. Unfortunately for the frog beast, the call was answered by another far more menacing bellow of a roar. Maraveck instantly dropped everything he was doing or thinking about as he looked in the direction the roar came from, as did several onlookers.

* * *

Starlight Glimmer and Spike had been stopped dead in their tracks when they heard a familiar roar in the distance. They both turned with big smiles on their faces.

"Ooh, if only that toad knew what he was in for," Starlight Glimmer said.

"The creature thriller of the century in Slog Troll Swamp," Spike said. "Place your bets. All my gems are definitely on the G-dude."

"Straight up," Starlight Glimmer said.

* * *

Elsewhere TJ and Twilight Sparkle had also been stopped as they looked to see their gigantic friend approaching.

"Here he comes," TJ said.

"Yeah, which means we've gotta work faster," Twilight Sparkle said. "Godzilla can handle Maraveck. _We_ need to see about finding any stragglers."

"For sure," TJ said.

The ponies looked on a little bit longer before Twilight Sparkle flew off into the depths of the swamp with TJ running close behind.

* * *

Maraveck croaked out, taking a few steps back as he crouched down in a defensive stance. He was trying to warn this newcomer not to come looking for a fight, but his warnings were left unheeded. The larger, much more imposing figure coming his way was nearly fearless and took all challenges head-on, seeing this warning as one of them. Maraveck may have held the cornerstone on disgusting kaiju, but when it came to far more intimidating beasts, none came closer than the powerful king of the monsters; the great Godzilla. To assert such an ideal, Godzilla replied to Maraveck's warning with a defying roar that thundered throughout the area as he stomped ever closer to the smaller beast.

Such actions started to worry Maraveck, for while he believed he could best any of the creatures smaller than him, he doubted whether he'd be able to best a beast such as Godzilla. Would his newfound size, strength, and power be enough to carry him into victory with a mighty titan like the one approaching him now? The frog monster wasn't sure, but he tried his absolute best not to back down from the challenge this newcomer made. He was unable to keep himself from backing up, though, taking several steps to put some more distance between him and the oncoming saurian. Godzilla kept on coming, though, bringing it to the point where Maraveck couldn't make himself back away anymore for fear of looking weak.

Maraveck bellowed another warning at Godzilla, who let out one of his shrieking three-mile roars to assert dominance. This silenced all creatures in the swamp who froze in fear and looked towards the two giants roaring it out. Maraveck remained silent. realizing full well it wasn't going to be able to best such a mighty call. Godzilla saw this and let out several roars demanding Maraveck submit to his will, least he not be spared the forthcoming beatdown the kaiju king was ready to give him. Maraveck scowled in irritation, letting out several angry, downright furious growls at such a suggestion.

The large frog monster was free to be out and about for the first time in centuries and he had no intention of giving up his freedom again. He had no idea if he could beat this new beast before him, but Maraveck was more than willing to find out if it meant him getting to keep his freedom. In the name of that cause, Maraveck roared out in defiance, saying by the end Godzilla would be submitting to him. This took Godzilla back a bit, being plain to see by the flinch of his head, not one of fear but of surprise. Said surprise was soon replaced with boiling anger at having his will defied, his body starting to shake while he snarled.

Godzilla roared out a challenge to fight so that he may physically force Maraveck to bow to his will. Maraveck responded with a bellowing croak to accept that challenge before leaping through the air at Godzilla. The powerful saurian reacted quickly, spinning around, smacking his tail against Maraveck's incoming body. This sent the frog sailing a great many kilometers through the air before he crashed into the marshlands of Slog Troll Swamp. The king of the monsters raised his head high, roaring out to mock Maraveck and let the frog know he'd gotten the first successful strike in the fight.

This display only served to anger the large frog beast, who instantly flailed up onto his feet despite feeling pain from the blow he just took. Maraveck bellowed out angrily, making Godzilla take several fearless steps forward before roaring back defiantly. Then, as the kaiju king scowled at his foe, his eyes lit up, actually starting to glow blue. This was followed by flashes of blue rapidly dancing up and down Godzilla's backplates. No longer were these lights the more magically ethereal flashes filled with sparkles from earlier that stemmed from the map's call.

This was Godzilla's very own display of power, his own display to intimidate his opponents. It seemed to be working, too, for Maraveck took a few steps back when Godzilla's backplates lit up. Godzilla roared out once more to assert his superiority over the gigantic swamp frog he faced.

* * *

With the newfound strength he felt from the Alpha Stone, Thunder Jack scooped up and tossed aside a large tree branch that had been blocking several trapped swamp ponies. Twilight Sparkle smiled to her boyfriend she'd energized with the stone's power before helping him hurry the swamp ponies along.

"This way, everypony!" TJ called out.

"Follow us to safety!" Twilight Sparkle said. "We're here to help!"

"Everything's gonna be al––"

TJ was cut off by the flashes of blue light, which everyone looked to see was coming from Godzilla as he faced Maraveck. The swamp ponies saw the two monsters standing off and gasped in horror. Twilight and TJ were more awestruck by the display of flashing lights on Godzilla's plates and in his eyes.

"Hey, what's with the light show?" TJ asked.

"I think it's an intimidation display," Twilight Sparkle surmised. "Like a gorilla pounding its chest."

"Consider us very intimidated," a pony in the crowd said in a shaky voice.

"N- no, it's okay, everypony," Twilight Sparkle said. "The glowing kaiju's here to help us. Trust me. He's fighting so we can get away."

"Right, so let's go," TJ said. "Come on, let's go! Hustle, everypony, if you can!"

As the other ponies evacuated, following TJ's direction, Twilight Sparkle lingered a bit, gazing at Godzilla's new display. Never before had she seen his eyes glow blue or his plates flash quite like that. _Are you getting more powerful, Godzilla?_ Twilight Sparkle wondered in her head.

"_Twilight, help!_" TJ's voice screamed.

The alicorn looked and flew to the front of the crowd of ponies when she saw a swamp spider the size of a buffalo ahead of them. Using the Alpha Stone to enhance her own power, she used her levitation magic to pick the spider up and toss it far away.

"_Come on, everypony!_" Twilight Sparkle said. "We're here for you! It's okay! Everything's going to be alright!"

With that, the crowd followed the powerful alicorn princess as she and TJ led them to safety.

* * *

Godzilla roared out at Maraveck, once again warning him to submit or suffer his wrath as a consequence. Maraveck, not wanting to lose face, bellowed in defiance before leaping through the air at Godzilla. The apex predator's entire cluster of back spikes lit up at once as he unleashed his power breath attack, the blue beam colliding with Maraveck's body in mid-air. This ignited a series of explosions all over the creature's torso as he dropped out of the air and to the ground, making the whole area shake as he squealed in pain. Godzilla roared out before he started stomping towards Maraveck to deal with him more directly.

The frog managed to roll up onto his feet before Godzilla reached him, thus Maraveck was a bit more prepared, but still alarmed when he saw the mighty monster king coming his way. Maraveck charged forth, the 87-meter tall monster pushing up on his hind feet, swinging his front legs forth at Godzilla. The king of the monsters reached out and caught his foe's appendages and roared in Maraveck's face before biting into his shoulder, making the monster scream. The two struggled and wrestled aggressively, Maraveck managing to break himself free of Godzilla's bite, though it left a huge gash in his shoulder. The smaller monster retaliated by biting into Godzilla's chest, making him roar out, for even though they weren't many or particularly big, Maraveck had jagged sharp teeth hidden in his mouth.

Godzilla quickly started swinging his right knee up into Maraveck's gut. He did this three times before the frog's bite was loose enough for Godzilla to shove him, freeing himself of the swamp beast's jaws. Godzilla kept hold of one of his front legs as he kicked Maraveck in the gut, then followed up with several massive body shots that felt like they'd crush his ribs. Thinking fast, Maraveck took advantage of his now free left front foot, slashing the claws at the end of his toes down Godzilla's right shoulder and arm. The gigantic saurian roared out in anguish before Maraveck lunged forward, biting into Godzilla's left shoulder, drawing a gush of blood.

Godzilla shrieked out as he continued to punch into Maraveck's torso, causing the frog a great amount of pain. The giant swamp toad responded by wrapping his back legs around Godzilla's side as he continued to bite into his shoulder and slashed at his torso with his free front foot. Godzilla thrashed about violently trying to get himself free of the frog that was mauling him, but nothing seemed to work. It was almost like Maraveck was now permanently stuck to the king of the monsters, meant to torment and torture him for the rest of his days. Wishing to prove the contrary, Godzilla wrapped his right arm around Maraveck's left back leg and charged forward several steps before dropping forth, slamming his foe's back into the ground.

* * *

"Everypony stay together!" Spike called out.

"Just keep following us and the sound of our voices!" Starlight Glimmer added on. "We're gonna get you to safety!"

"_Look out!_" somepony in the crowd shouted while everyone else just screamed.

Starlight Glimmer and Spike looked up ahead and saw two, nasty, vicious-looking slog trolls coming toward them. The slimy green, fat-lipped giant beasts had swamp weeds and all sorts of things all over them as they approached with a slight hunch. Their lower jaws seemed to be slightly jutted out to bare their set of bottom fangs, which extended past their upper lip. The sixteen-foot beasts snarled and sneered menacingly, terrifying almost everyone there. Starlight and Spike nearly gave into fear, but they found their courage once they realized they were in charge of safely escorting the other ponies with them.

They may have only found eight ponies to get to safety, but they were innocent lives all the same. So the two heroic beings stood their ground, glaring defiantly at the beasts. The ponies Spike and Starlight Glimmer were escorting screamed again, making the two look back to see two more slog trolls coming from behind on either side of their group. Spike ran back towards one, unleashing the near full fury of his fire breath while Starlight Glimmer turned to the two ahead of her. They took several swipes at her, but Starlight Glimmer managed to avoid them all.

Then she unleashed a volley of laser bolts from her horn at them, igniting bursts of explosive sparks that made the trolls stumble back as they groaned in pain. They brought up their arms to try and shield themselves, but that only served to put those appendages in the crossfire instead. At the same time, the slog troll Spike was burning up screamed both in pain and anger. Every time it seemed to build up a slight tolerance and tried to advance closer, Spike would somehow find another notch of heat, igniting the beast even further. _I sure hope this guy gives out before I do,_ Spike thought to himself.

Starlight Glimmer quickly turned to the troll in the back of the group Spike wasn't fighting. She jumped up as she swung her horn around, letting out a twirling, boomerang-like bolt of energy that flew at the slog troll. It hit him right in the chest, igniting an explosion of sparks that knocked the slog troll off his feet. Starlight Glimmer then turned back to the trolls in front of her, shooting dual streams of attack magic from her horn at their feet. The slog trolls screamed as they jumped up, their feet burning from the exchange.

Starlight Glimmer shot several more laser bolts at the trolls, making them bring up their hands and arms to protect themselves as they ran off. The unicorn mare smiled in satisfaction before turning to see Spike had never let up on his fire breath attack. He'd been blasting the slog troll he was facing full of flames the entire time, scorching the creature until it finally jumped into the bog and swam off in fear. Spike smiled proudly, Starlight Glimmer giving a nod of approval before seeing the slog troll she'd knocked down earlier getting back up.

"_Spike!_" Starlight Glimmer screamed as she ran up to the dragon.

Not missing a beat, Spike jumped and crawled up onto the brave mare's back before she teleported herself and the dragon in front of the slog troll. Starlight Glimmer released a continuous blast of laser-like attack magic at the swamp monster while Spike unleashed his fire breath. The combined attacks made the slog troll scream out in anguish. The two ceased fire, letting the troll cry out more before it gave a snarl of anger, taking a swipe at Spike and Starlight. This missed attack enticed Starlight to light up her horn while Spike let out a burst of flames from his mouth.

The slog troll instantly turned and ran off, leaving Starlight and Spike to be cheered by the ponies they fought so hard to protect. It was interrupted, though, when the ground started to shake violently. Everyone turned in the direction where Godzilla and Maraveck were duking it out.

"The fight's getting closer," Spike said. "We'd better go."

Starlight Glimmer nodded her head before turning to the crowd.

"We're getting out of here, everypony!" Starlight Glimmer announced. "Follow us!"

* * *

At the same time that was happening, Twilight Sparkle, TJ, and their own small group of evacuees also had a run-in with slog trolls. While trying to get the ponies they led to safety, Twilight Sparkle, TJ, and them had come across three slog trolls who almost looked like they were waiting for them. The terrifying beasts roared out as they bared their fangs and claws and ran at the ponies.

"Twilight, let's take these beasts!" TJ exclaimed.

"Way ahead of you, Jacky!" Twilight Sparkle said as she used her horn to activate the magic of the Alpha Stone.

She infused herself and TJ with the stone's power before they looked to each other and smirked confidently, giving little nods to each other. Then they ran up to face these new foes, one slashing its claws at TJ, who ducked, jumped, and even did a backflip to avoid the beast's swipes. Then TJ rushed forth, jumped up, and bucked his back hooves into the slog troll's gut, making it hunch over as it grabbed at its aching stomach. TJ backflipped, kicking his back hooves up into the troll's face and making it stumble back as it grabbed at its features. Then TJ ran towards the troll and then rolled underneath it, getting between its legs before kicking both his back hooves up into the troll's... area.

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle shot forth six streams of attack magic, four hitting the trolls' feet while the other two got them in the face. Sparks ignited from where the trolls were hit, making them scream in agony. Twilight Sparkle then used her telekinesis to slam the two trolls into each other before flying up and slashing them both with her glowing horn. Sparks flew from every hit her horn got on the trolls, making them howl out in pain despite still taking unsuccessful swipes at her with their claws. After six or so spark-inducing slashes of her horn, Twilight Sparkle released a large shotgun burst of attack magic that sent the slog trolls flying back.

When they crashed into the dense, marshy, muggy terrain of the swamp, a cragadile twice their size suddenly burst out of the boggy swamp water and snatched one up in its jaws. The slog troll screamed as the gigantic cragadile pulled it under while the other troll got up and ran away.

"Humph," Twilight Sparkle let out with a smirk and a nod of her head.

She then looked as TJ swung his front hooves across the face of the slog troll he'd been fighting, each punch letting out a loud impact, sounding like stone on stone. Then TJ slid down and got behind the slog troll and jumped up, spin kicking one of his back hooves across the back of the troll's head. The giant beast screamed as it held the back of its noggin while TJ landed safely. Twilight Sparkle used her telekinesis to send the slog troll flying through the dense swamplands, making it sail several meters away before it crashed against a giant swamp spider. TJ looked to his girlfriend and smiled brightly as she did the same to him.

Suddenly the roars of Godzilla and Maraveck broke through louder than ever before as the ground shook.

"We've gotta get out of here!" a pony yelled in panic.

The few others in the crowd Twilight and TJ were escorting let out with the same fearful sentiments. TJ and Twilight Sparkle looked to each other before nodding their heads.

"We just got to keep heading north," Twilight Sparkle said. "It'll get us further away from the monsters and hopefully the swamp will eventually get less dense."

"Here's hoping," TJ said. "Come on, everypony!"

Suddenly, several large swamp turtles popped out of the bog, the one ahead of them waving for the ponies to come to them. Twilight Sparkle smiled as she thought of an idea.

"Everypony on the turtles!" Twilight Sparkle called out. "They'll carry us through the bog and it looks like there's enough room on them for us all."

The alicorn mare looked to Thunder Jack, who nodded approvingly.

"Come on, everypony, let's do this!" TJ said. "You want to get to safety, need to find a turtle to hop on."

Twilight and TJ both carefully helped ponies onto the shells of the large turtles before getting on one themselves. Once the small group of ponies were on, the turtles started swimming their way through the swamp water, heading for safety.

"Good," Twilight Sparkle said in relief. "This should make things easier."

"_Turtle power!_" TJ exclaimed, making Twilight giggle.

Her tickled feeling of amusement instantly subsided when she realized one of her friends was still out there fighting a titanic toad.

"Looks like the rest is up to Godzilla," Twilight Sparkle said.

"Then we got nothing to worry about," TJ said while smiling reassuringly.

The princess of friendship smiled back before looking to the south where Godzilla was still fighting Maraveck. _It's on you now, Godzilla. I have faith that you won't fail._

* * *

Godzilla had pinned Maraveck down on his back and was slashing, punching, and biting at his face, throat, and wherever else he could get his hands, claws, and teeth. The gigantic swamp frog wasn't just laying on the ground letting it happen, though, for Maraveck struggled and fought with all he could, thrashing about and clawing at Godzilla's sides. The emerald saurian clearly had the advantage, though, for he was the one on top laying in the biggest smackdown of the two combatants. Godzilla pressed his advantage further by biting first into Maraveck's underbelly and then got a bitter biting grip on the side of his foe's neck. He sunk his teeth in deep, making blood ooze as Maraveck screamed out loudly.

The frog monster was desperate and needed a way out of this scenario or else his life would surely be lost. Not knowing what else to do, Maraveck stretched out one of his front legs to reach for something, _anything _he could use as a weapon to get himself free of his current predicament. At the same time, he kept using the claws on his front left foot to scratch and claw into Godzilla's side in hope that would help. After reaching for several moments, Maraveck's front right foot felt several large rocks, which he quickly scooped up along with other pieces of swamp terrain. Then Maraveck quickly slammed the rocks into the back and side of Godzilla's neck, the stone crumbling after four massive strikes.

The attempt proved fruitful, for Godzilla's bite weakened in strength, as did everything else the kaiju king did. This allowed Maraveck the opportunity to grab Godzilla and swing the saurian off of him, sending the powerful kaiju rolling across the way. Maraveck quickly and desperately rolled back onto his feet, not wanting to give Godzilla any chance to get him pinned on his back again. He only had time to catch a few breaths before the swamp frog looked to see Godzilla was already halfway back up to his feet. Maraveck snarled in anger and hate as he rushed forth, slamming his own body into Godzilla's, knocking him back several steps.

Maraveck pressed his advantage and swung his mighty, clawed front feet at Godzilla, slapping into the sides of his head and upper body. Occasionally his claws pierced the emerald saurian's flesh, drawing trickles of blood, soliciting shrieks of pain. After many mighty swings, Maraveck changed tactics by rushing forth and slamming his head into Godzilla's chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him. As Godzilla fought to keep his footing, Maraveck saw a chance and took it, using his incredible leaping power to jump onto the monster king. The sudden added weight while he was already off-balance sent Godzilla crashing onto his back with Maraveck on top of him, the impact making the whole area shake violently.

Maraveck slammed his front feet down on Godzilla's face multiple times before biting into his chest, causing a high pitched shriek of anguish to erupt from the reptilian's mouth. The frog couldn't get a good bite on it, though, and thus went from biting Godzilla's chest to biting his right shoulder. However, the ever-fighting apex predator's thrashing about made it impossible to get a firm grip there too. So then Maraveck settled for another part of Godzilla's right arm, that being his forearm. Blood gushed out as Maraveck sank his teeth into Godzilla's appendage with aspirations to tear it clean off.

Godzilla refused to let that happen, even going so far as to tug his forearm back through Maraveck's sharp teeth. It worsened the wounds on his arm making him bleed all the more, but at least Godzilla still had his arm and it was free. Godzilla scowled as though he was staring at his most hated enemy. This frog was being more trouble than he was worth and Godzilla intended to make him pay. The king of the monsters' backplates lit up as he opened his mouth and unleashed his power blast upon the fiend on top of him. Maraveck howled in pain as the burning, explosion inducing sensations of the beam ripped at his flesh.

Seeing the condition his foe was in, Godzilla took advantage and grabbed Maraveck's front legs and then kicked his foot up into the frog's underbelly. Maraveck was sent flying over Godzilla's head and crashing into the marshes ahead of the reptilian monster. Once more the ground shook like a massive earthquake was taking place, causing a lot of places in the earth's crust to crack away. It was only when this quaking ceased did Godzilla get himself to roll onto his side as he tried to push himself back up to his feet. He got up to his knee when the alpha kaiju saw Maraveck was trying to crawl back up onto his feet as well.

Godzilla snarled in anger before roaring out as he forced himself back to his feet and then ran at Maraveck. The king of monsters started by kicking his foot up into Maraveck's face, causing the throbbing pain Godzilla was looking to inflict on the frog. It wasn't enough for him, for as Maraveck cried out, Godzilla slashed his right-hand claws across the frog's face, following up with a left clubbing hit to the top of his head. Godzilla roared out as he swung his right fist down in the same clubbing manner before letting out a bellowing, growl-filled roar. Then Godzilla went wild with a random series of claw swipes and closed fists all aimed at Maraveck's head, primarily his face.

Haymakers, hammer fists, uppercuts, upward claw swipes, downward claw swipes, wild bear-like claw swipes. Godzilla did anything and everything he thought would inflict massive damage on Maraveck. He ended his flurry with a right-handed claw swipe, before spinning around, slamming his tail into Maraveck, sending the frog rolling across the ground. Godzilla tried swinging his tail down upon the fallen swamp beast, but the giant creature rolled out of the way just barely in time to avoid the attack. Maraveck got back to all fours and bellowed before charging at Godzilla.

This would turn out to be a big mistake, for Godzilla slammed his body into the incoming frog's, sending him stumbling back. Godzilla pressed on, slamming his body into Maraveck's again, following up with an elbow strike to his gut and then swung his fist outward across his foe's face. Godzilla repeated this backhanded punch with his other fist before following up with a traditional right hook. Then Godzilla pulled Maraveck in close and slammed his left knee into the frog's side before changing stances and pulling the frog into a more inner knee strike to the gut. Then Godzilla pushed Maraveck away, unloaded some body shots and an uppercut on him, then blasted the frog with his power breath attack, igniting explosions all over him.

Maraveck flew up onto his hind feet, his front appendages flailing in the air as he screamed in pure agony. This left him open to another attack, which Godzilla took advantage of, rushing forth and kicking his left foot into Maraveck's gut, sending the frog sprawling backward to the ground. Remarkably, Maraveck was actually able to use his backward going momentum to make himself roll back so far it took him back to his feet. Maraveck paused so he could try to catch his breath as he looked forth at Godzilla, who seemed like he'd only just begun to fight. Maraveck's tired and pained expression turned into one of anger as he bellowed in defiance, not wanting to submit to Godzilla's will.

Godzilla responded with a much mightier roar as he suggested surrender would be wise for the giant swamp monster and demanded he submit. This only caused Maraveck to scowl in fury before bellowing in defiance once more. Godzilla let out a roar of his own before his back plates lit up and he unleashed his power beam from his mouth. However, Maraveck was ready this time, using his tremendous leaping ability as a frog to jump over and avoid the beam. Even then, he kept on sailing higher and further through the air, going high above and beyond Godzilla's head, making it look easy.

Godzilla was actually stunned by this display, his eyes widening as he watched Maraveck's admittedly impressive jump. It didn't stop there, though, for even when Maraveck started falling back to Earth, he kept sailing a great distance through the air before finally heading coming down for a landing. As to be expected, the whole area shook like a magnitude five earthquake. It didn't end there for Maraveck because as the frog kaiju turned around to face Godzilla and seeing his foe was just starting to do the same, the frog went on the attack. He did that in the most surprising display yet when the frog opened his mouth and a wave of flashing light particles, each bigger than a house, spewed out at Godzilla.

The king of monsters shrieked out as the light particles collided and exploded against his skin, actually forcing him to take a few steps back. Maraveck ceased fire after several seconds before bellowing and then leaping forth, landing right in front of Godzilla. The giant swamp monster stood up on his hind legs and started swatting his front feet across Godzilla's face once more. The emerald saurian must've taken at least seven or eight swats before he finally brought up his hands and caught the smaller kaiju's front appendages. Godzilla roared angrily in Maraveck's face as he pushed forth, forcing the frog along while also biting into his left shoulder.

Maraveck shrieked out from the pain of the bite and from the fact he couldn't stop Godzilla's forward momentum. His back feet just slid across the marshes despite how much the frog tried to make himself an unmovable object. Finally, Godzilla stopped but then used his legendary strength another way, lifting Maraveck off his feet and tossing him across the swamp. The giant toad squealed as he went sailing against his will but surprisingly managed to land on his feet. Maraveck roared angrily before leaping at Godzilla, who caught the frog and tossed him aside like it was nothing.

Maraveck landed back-first into the swampland, once again sending a bunch of gooey, mushy swamp matter into the air as the ground shook. Godzilla roared in satisfaction before once again demanding Maraveck surrender to him. The king of monsters got no response, only a moan of anguish from the giant frog as he struggled to get back up again. Godzilla's nostrils flared as he sneered with content, knowing he was the dominant force in this fight, the superior foe. He then stomped forth to finally prove it to Maraveck once and for all and end the fight.

That wouldn't happen just yet, for it turned out Maraveck still had some surprises left in store for Godzilla. When the frog finally managed to get back on his feet, he saw Godzilla coming for him and his response was immediate. Maraveck's mouth opened wide as he released forth a large, long, pink, slimy, sticky frog tongue that wrapped around and stuck itself to Godzilla's right wrist. The kaiju king actually paused and his eyes widened at what had happened before he looked to his wrist in disbelief. Maraveck used his great leaping ability once more, this time jumping backward and dragging Godzilla along via his tongue.

The reptilian monster of might was taken off his feet as he fell forward and crashed into the marshes of the Slog Troll Swamp, making the ground shake yet again. When Maraveck landed on his feet and saw the position Godzilla was in, he couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. It looked like the giant swamp frog finally had an edge over Godzilla he could put to serious use and had every intention of milking it for all it was worth. So Maraveck watched and waited for Godzilla to get back up, only letting him get to a knee before jumping back again. This turned out to be a mistake, for Godzilla caught sight of Maraveck jumping and reacted quickly.

Godzilla shot up to his feet, grabbed a hold of Maraveck's tongue with both hands, and then turned away from the frog as he pulled his arms forward. The momentum tugged so hard on Maraveck's tongue, it pulled him through the air and over Godzilla's head. Maraveck flew several kilometers before he was sent crashing into the ground, enticing Godzilla to let out a mighty three-mile roar. Maraveck only responded by rolling back up to his feet, being a little faster than one might expect a combatant to be after going through such a vicious brawl. Maraveck looked to Godzilla and sneered in contempt before croaking in defiance, making it clear he still thought he had a shot at proving he was the superior monster in this fight.

Godzilla roared in frustration before he started stepping forward to finish Maraveck in a more hands-on way. The frog responded by opening his mouth and letting out several of his light particles once more, each one of them hitting and exploding against Godzilla's body. The king of the monsters didn't stumble back this time, but he was halted. This allowed Maraveck the chance to cease fire and extend his tongue around Godzilla's left leg. He quickly retracted the tongue back towards him while jumping a relatively shorter distance than he had before, although it still did the job of taking Godzilla off his feet.

Godzilla crashed onto his back, shaking the whole area around the monster king as he shrieked. He tried to roll back onto his feet but didn't get very far before his ears picked up the sound of something coming towards him fast. The shadow of Maraveck befell the downed saurian as he looked up to see the massive frog crashing down upon his person, practically knocking the wind out of them both. Or so it seemed, for Maraveck recovered from the collision first and started swinging his front feet down upon Godzilla's face and chest a multitude of times. Each time he was hit, Godzilla let out a short yelp of pain before the next blow came, this process repeating at least eight times.

Seeing he had the advantage still, Maraveck changed tactics and bit into Godzilla's right shoulder, sinking his jagged, uneven teeth deep in his bigger foe's flesh. As Godzilla shrieked in agony from the bleeding bite wounds Maraveck inflicted, he started to feel something else: _burning rage! _Because up to now, Godzilla was doing his absolute best to hold back, to try and make it to where Maraveck could live, so he could survive this ordeal mostly intact. He'd hoped Maraveck would've given up by now and admitted Godzilla was his clear superior. The king of monsters saw now that this wasn't happening... which meant he had to take more drastic measures and go, if not full power, pretty close to it so the frog would get the message.

With that all in mind, Godzilla's eyes flashed blue as did his back spikes. He was angry, downright furious how this had gone and he was prepared to take it out on Maraveck's hide. The apex kaiju began by releasing forth one of his mightier attacks, the dreaded nuclear pulse from his body. The burst of burning, scolding power, sent Maraveck flying through the air, as did separated pieces of flesh and globs of blood from freshly made wounds all across his body. Maraveck crashed on the ground next to Godzilla and roared out in agony, begging for his pain to stop as smoke streamed from his wounds.

The giant swamp frog was hurting so bad, he couldn't bring himself to budge even the tiniest muscle in his body. That changed quickly when Maraveck heard what sounded like his opponent getting up, making the frog's eyes open wide with dread. As Maraveck tried forcing himself to get back up, Godzilla was already standing tall over the struggling frog, scowling down at his foe with rage-filled eyes. Now he was prepared to teach Maraveck the true meaning of pain, letting out a growling bellow as he stomped towards the fearful frog. He started by swinging his tail around, slapping it up into Maraveck's lower jaw before unleashing his atomic breath down on the beast.

The explosions this time were much bigger and hurt much more, making blood and flesh burst off of Maraveck and fly away as he cried out. His cries fell on deaf ears, for Godzilla followed up by driving his left knee up into Maraveck's face before unloading more punishment on it. Godzilla let loose with harder punches and far more vicious claw swipes than he'd unleashed on the frog before, intent to get his point across. It was near impossible to count how many swinging blows Godzilla let loose on Maraveck's features, closed fisted or opened handed. All that was certain was each one of them hurt and left a big impression on Maraveck's scared and bruised face.

Maraveck's whole body trembled, but this only got him three right knees to the gut from Godzilla before the kaiju king wrapped his arms around the helpless frog. The almost tyrannical-looking monster king lifted Maraveck up, gut-wrenching him off the ground and tossing him through the air with all his power. Maraveck sailed a good distance before he finally slammed into the ground, once more causing massive tremors that nearly shook the land apart. Godzilla ignored it all and roared out as he stomped over to Maraveck with full intent to let loose with more punishment. The frog heard Godzilla coming but was unable to get himself to move despite desperately wanting to flee from his enraged adversary.

But the shadow of Godzilla fell upon the frog, his underbelly facing up as he looked to see the kaiju king standing over him. Godzilla roared furiously before unleashing his power breath down on the fallen Maraveck, igniting explosions across his torso that made the frog scream. Godzilla responded with roars that only sounded angrier, indicating he wasn't done yet. This turned out to be true, for Godzilla jumped up as best he could, getting a few feet off the ground as his left elbow almost came plowing into Maraveck's throat. Although, in a last ditched effort of self-preservation, Maraveck displayed surprising agility and rolled out of the way in time to avoid Godzilla's incoming elbow and his whole body at that.

The ground shook as the crater Maraveck's body had made from his crash got bigger because of Godzilla crashing into it. The king of the monsters was not deterred by this, though, for he started to get up almost instantly. He looked to see a barely able to stand Maraveck limping at him in a desperate attempt to charge him. Godzilla met this challenge head-on, getting up and slamming his body into Maraveck's at the same time the swamp frog tried slamming his own body into the saurian's. Godzilla followed up with a series of punches to Maraveck's face before grabbing him and pulling him in close for an inside knee strike to the gut.

Godzilla kept on with two right body shots and an uppercut followed by several more vicious and wild slashes and punches before delivering a blast of his power breath. Then Godzilla swung around, smacking his tail into Maraveck's body, nearly knocking the frog down for good. Godzilla followed up with a second blast of his power breath, which gave off explosive results all across his enemy's body, making Maraveck scream. Godzilla responded only by scooping Maraveck up in his arms, turning him upside down and slamming him into the ground yet again to make the whole place tremble like it would all break away. At this moment, Maraveck was starting to feel like it would suit him better if he just broke away so that his suffering at Godzilla's claws could finally end.

It seemed that, unfortunately for him, the end would not come just yet, for Godzilla continued to unleash his wrath upon the downed frog. He clubbed his tail upon Maraveck's body twice, each time feeling like it could crush him. Maraveck squealed out, begging for mercy, only for Godzilla to respond with a menacing roar, indicating he was not ready to give it. Godzilla then stomped his right foot down on Maraveck's face two times before stomping it on his chest. Then Godzilla switched feet and repeated the same process, adding a stomp on Maraveck's left front leg.

Then Godzilla roared out before jumping forth, landing in a sit-down position on top of Maraveck, bringing his full body weight down on the helpless creature. All the wind was knocked out of the frog's body, making it to where Maraveck could only let out a weak groan. For a moment it seemed like he wouldn't ever be able to breathe again... until he finally got a reprieve as Godzilla rose back to his feet, taking his body weight off Maraveck. But any hopes of mercy were shattered when Godzilla's mighty foot came crashing down on Maraveck's chest. The helpless frog looked up to see Godzilla glaring down hatefully, his eyes glowing blue and his back plates flashing brightly as he let out a roar demanding Maraveck's surrender and submission.

Maraveck finally gave in; being unable to stand anymore and not wanting to suffer the king of the monster's wrath any longer, the frog croaked out all Godzilla wanted to hear. Godzilla was his better, his superior in every way and Maraveck should be his subordinate. Maraveck looked and waited to see how Godzilla would react, staring fearfully as the emerald saurian glared down at him, his eyes and spikes still alight. The swamp monster started to get worried when he saw faint hints of a glow in the mighty reptilian's mouth. Was this great beast of might no longer interested in Maraveck's surrender and now just wanted his life?

Maraveck feared the answer, looking away as he closed his eyes, fearfully anticipating what might happen next. So he waited... and he waited... and he waited even longer still. However, after several moments, the only thing that Maraveck felt happen was Godzilla's foot rise off his chest. Maraveck opened his eyes and looked up to see that Godzilla's eyes and plates were no longer glowing. Despite that, the kaiju king was still a terrifying sight to behold, especially when he looked as furious as he did at that moment.

Still, it seemed like Godzilla was willing to give this smaller beast a shred of mercy, despite looking like he wanted to do everything to the contrary. Godzilla roared out, demanding Maraveck's compliance and fealty to him and him alone. Maraveck swore it all just so long as it kept him safe from the king of the monster's wrath. There was a moment of pause as Godzilla looked down at Maraveck while the frog just looked back up waiting to see what would happen. Finally, with a flare of his nostrils, Godzilla roared out, telling Maraveck to submit to him.

* * *

"Is... is it over?" Spike asked.

"I can't hear the sounds of battle anymore," Starlight Glimmer said.

"The earthquakes stopped," TJ said.

"But they're still roaring at each other," Ruby Rare said.

All the separate groups of evacuating ponies had somehow managed to run into each other and converge into one group. It still wasn't the biggest group of ponies, but it was a sizable enough population for such a slimy, mushy, mucky wasteland like the Slog Troll Swamp. The group had gotten a more than respectable distance away, which, for some reason, seemed to be as far as the ponies all wished to carry themselves. It could've also stemmed from being tired, but most of the ponies felt the compulsion to stop and let themselves rest since they realized they were fairly far away from the monsters. Although, the entire time they rested, everypony looked to the south where the two titanic beasts of mighty magnitude had been brawling.

They were trying to hear what was going on since they could no longer see what was happening. This curiosity extended especially to the group led by Princess Twilight Sparkle, the same group that helped lead these swamp ponies to safety. She was at the front of the group looking back at the much more dense and disgusting part of the swamp they'd all come from, which was also where the battle had taken place. She looked to TJ, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, and Ruby Rare, all of whom seemed just as uncertain as she did.

"Sparkles," TJ whispered, getting the alicorn's attention. "Remember that trick you did when Godzilla was fighting Monsager on Pony Tale Island? The one with the Alpha Stone?"

It only took a moment for Twilight Sparkle to realize what her boyfriend was getting at.

"Oh, right," the princess of friendship responded.

Her horn then started to glow, soon followed by the aura of the Alpha Stone increasing in brightness and intensity as well. Everyone watched this take place, those not in the princess's regular social circle exclaiming in awe at what was transpiring before their eyes. When Twilight opened her eyes, they were glowing red as a stream of light emitted from her horn and extended out. The red light expanded into a square shape, which soon formed an image revealing Godzilla standing with his foot on Maraveck's chest, his eyes glowing and his spikes flashing. Everyone looked on with even more amazement at the sight that was the king of the monsters as he roared menacingly at the fallen, squealing frog before him.

"Ain't like no gator I ever did see," Rolley let out.

"Not even around these parts could you find one like that, I guarantee," Mama Dear replied.

Twilight and her friends all smiled.

"He did it!" Starlight Glimmer exclaimed. "He won!"

"Of course he did!" TJ said happily. "He's Godzilla!" The tan stallion just smiled happily at the image. "Alright, now finish him off, G! Let 'em have it! Finish him!"

"Fatality!" Spike let out, his heart racing.

Everyone waited and watched to see what the king of monsters would do. Would he smite this beast like he had so many others in the past? His track record made it seem like that was a safe bet. With how mighty and vicious they had all seen Godzilla could be (the swamp ponies to a much lesser extent), it wouldn't surprise any of them at all, especially Twilight and her friends. They all waited and watched to see if Godzilla would deal a final, fatal blow.

Although, much to everyone's surprise, this did not occur. In fact, it was quite the opposite, for Godzilla took his foot off the near slain frog's chest and let out a bellow as he stood tall. Everypony gasped in surprise as Maraveck started to get up, albeit rather gingerly because of what Godzilla put him through. Murmurs came through the crowd as everyone tried to figure out what was going on. None were more stunned by this development than those among the group that knew Godzilla best. They had the most shocked, the most surprised, the most astonished face of anyone there.

"Twilight, what's he doing?" Starlight Glimmer asked.

_What's going on?_ Twilight Sparkle wondered to herself as she watched this transpire. _Why's this happening?_

"Twilight?" Starlight Glimmer insisted.

"I don't know, Starlight Glimmer!" Twilight Sparkle finally answered.

The tone she used indicated to Starlight Glimmer that now wasn't the best time to bug the alicorn for answers, especially since she clearly didn't have them. So instead she watched with the others as the beaten and torn up Maraveck looked up hesitantly to the taller standing Godzilla who looked down at him without any hint of fear or hesitation. The giant swamp frog's body trembled in both pain and fear as he lowered his head and body down... almost as if––

"Is that frog _bowing_ to Godzilla?!" Spike exclaimed in disbelief as he pointed.

"I- I- I don't know," TJ said. "It certainly looks that way."

"He's submitting to Godzilla's will," Twilight Sparkle explained. "He's admitting defeat, that Godzilla's his superior... that he's the alpha."

"So, yeah, basically bowing like you said, Spike," Starlight Glimmer added on.

The violet-furred mare looked to her unicorn friend, who only responded with a sheepish smile. Twilight Sparkle ignored it and watched this take place as Maraveck bowed before the king of the monsters.

"But... no," Twilight Sparkle said. "No, this isn't how it's supposed to go. It never has before... Oh, look at me saying how it's supposed to go like this is a regular occurrence... And yet... it... it's... suppose to have..."

Twilight Sparkle disappeared in a flash, surprising the others both because of the action and because now the image the princess was projecting was now gone.

"Twilight?!" TJ and Spike both let out with worry.

"What was that all about?" Starlight Glimmer wondered out loud.

While the ponies in the crowd muttered amongst themselves, the unicorn mare looked out towards the south. _I'll bet Twilight's heading that way... and that this might become more common in Equestria than we want it to._

* * *

When Twilight Sparkle appeared, she was flying at full speed in the direction of the monsters. _Godzilla, just what do you think you're trying to do?_ The princess of friendship was many miles above the swamplands, which had been torn up and made to look even uglier than before because of the two monsters' brawl. Although she caught a few glimpses of this sight, Twilight Sparkle paid it no mind overall and kept her focus on the task at hoof. This paid off when she finally had the monsters in clear sight as the sun was lowering, turning the sky reddish-orange.

She watched as Godzilla looked down upon the groveling Maraveck who refused to rise or even look upon the emerald saurian until he permitted him to do so. The green-scaled kaiju king looked down for a few more moments before raising his hands at his side and lifting his head into the air to announce his dominance and superiority for any to hear. Godzilla wanted it made abundantly clear he was the beast in charge right now, in this particular part of the world and any other he so desired, for he was the alpha predator. At that moment, there wasn't a doubt in the mind of any who heard Godzilla's call or saw what he was capable of, least of all Twilight Sparkle. The alicorn hovered in the air and looked on with awe and wonder at the kaiju she knew as a friend.

"Sweet Celestia," Twilight Sparkle let out as she looked on.

Finally, Godzilla looked down at Maraveck, then let out a few growls and a bellow, which was the frog's cue to rise. The swamp beast did so but still refused to look directly at Godzilla, just as the great titan wanted it. Then Godzilla turned to the west from which he came and started heading back that way. Twilight Sparkle watched him go, still feeling astonished by how this exchange ended. Maraveck scurried back to make sure Godzilla had more than adequate room to get by as the monster king past by his new subject.

Maraveck watched and waited as his new alpha walked on, getting so far ahead it almost seemed like he would leave the frog behind. But then Godzilla let out a roar giving Maraveck permission to follow him, which the swamp giant did. Yet the frog kept a slower pace to keep a respectable distance between him and the titan of might that bested him in combat. Twilight Sparkle gasped out as she saw this transpire, not believing what her eyes were seeing. _Godzilla, what have you done?_

Suddenly Godzilla stopped, making Maraveck do the same as he huddled in anticipating fear. Then the emerald green-scaled reptilian turned in the direction of Twilight Sparkle, taking the alicorn pony back a bit. Despite being a good distance away, it was clear Godzilla was looking right at her, his face still looking hard, fierce, and commanding. _Does he somehow know how apprehensive I am right now?_ Twilight Sparkle wondered to herself. Godzilla let out a heavy breath as his nostrils flared, almost seeming to be confirmation of the alicorn's query.

Twilight Sparkle looked on in concern, wondering just what the kaiju she'd known so long as a friend would do next. Yet instead of being even more menacing despite how he treated Maraveck, the saurian actually let his face soften into a smile before giving the alicorn princess a surprising thumbs up. Twilight Sparkle gasped not knowing what to make of Godzilla's gesture, only knowing it meant he was still on friendly terms with her. Still, she couldn't help but feel there was more meaning behind the thumbs up. While she wondered what that could be, Twilight did allow herself to relax partially as she gave her own smile.

_I'm just glad he's still on our side... Or at least it sure looks that way._ Godzilla lowered his hand and once more headed out on his way, Maraveck following behind still keeping his distance all the while. Godzilla let out a mighty roar as he and Maraveck headed for the water.

* * *

"Here it is!" TJ said before grabbing a book in his mouth. It was just one of several books in the castle of friendship's library. "I found it."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, TJ," Starlight Glimmer said.

"Yeah, it's very rude," Spike said between chews of gem pieces in his mouth. Starlight Glimmer gave the young dragon a deadpan frown as he held a half-eaten gem in his hand. "What?"

TJ took the book over to one of the tables in the library and set it down as Spike, Starlight Glimmer, and Princess Twilight gathered around. There were stacks of books all over the tables and even on the floor, books scattered everywhere. The quartet of friends had been searching the library ever since they got back from the Slog Troll Swamp. They took only the smallest rest before Twilight put her friends and herself on assignment to look for answers to a lingering question. TJ believed he had the answers there at that moment in the book he found.

"_Grogar's Monsters_," Spike read as he looked at the title of the book with his friends.

"I'm pretty sure this is it," TJ said. "Unless there's another dark wizard ram out there also named Grogar who was called the father of monsters because he created them out of thin air."

"Not thin air, TJ," Twilight Sparkle said as she looked at the book. "All of his monsters had a source. He was much more than just a dark wizard, though. Long before the three pony races settled this land that would become Equestria, Grogar the Horrible was this land's emperor. He reigned over it with an army of monsters, ruling with an iron hoof."

"But did any of them ever get as big as the frog we saw at the swamp?" Spike asked.

"No," Twilight Sparkle said. "Most of them got huge, sure, but not like that."

"Then how can you be so sure that frog really was Maraveck?" Starlight Glimmer asked.

"That's what I'm hoping we'll found out here," Twilight Sparkle said. "If that frog was the Maraveck frog Grogar created, this book will tell us."

"Could it also explain how it got to be as big as a kaiju?" TJ asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," Twilight Sparkle said.

The alicorn princess opened the book and started flipping through the pages as the others looked on. There were a great many pictures of monsters accompanying pages of texts explaining everything there was to know about these creatures. What they are, what they were made from, how big and powerful they were, and what ranks they held in Grogar's army of terror. Some of the creatures were so terrifying, the others had to look away even though Twilight never did so herself. She just kept on flipping through pages and pages of monsters. As she did so, the others caught glimpses of the text that accompanied the pictures displaying the vile sights Grogar's monsters were.

Finally, Twilight Sparkle stopped on a page with a display that made the others gasp as their eyes widened.

"Just as I feared," Twilight Sparkle said. "It _is_ Maraveck."

In the book's entry on Grogar's monster frog was a picture depicting a beast that looked almost exactly like the one Godzilla had fought at the Slog Troll Swamp. There were some minor differences, some of them being because of the interpretations of the artist who drew the picture. Overall, though, the creature depicted in the book was a dead ringer for the gargantuan amphibian Twilight, Spike, Starlight, and TJ saw at the swamp.

"But that's impossible," TJ said.

"It says here the frog Grogar made wasn't nearly as big as the one we saw," Starlight Glimmer said as she pointed to the page. "It actually says it was one of his smaller monsters, being only sixteen or seventeen feet tall."

"How did it get over two hundred feet?" Spike asked. "How did it get so big?"

"I'm not sure," Twilight Sparkle said.

"How could it even still be alive at all?" TJ asked. "Does that mean there are others still alive?"

"The book says it's possible," Twilight Sparkle said. "A lot of scholars have theorized that, in addition to descendants, some of the more monstrous creatures we see here are the very same ones Grogar created way back then."

"But they didn't get kaiju-sized, did they?" TJ asked.

"No, they did not," Twilight Sparkle said. "Some grew for sure, but they never even came close to the heights of a kaiju." The alicorn princess stopped to read on. "It says here in the book that a mass majority of the monsters Grogar created were destroyed with very few being left to roam the land freely... And it also says even fewer of them were subjected to a type of imprisonment."

"Imprisonment?" TJ asked.

"Yes, they were locked away in what was called hyper lock chambers," Starlight Glimmer interjected. "Sealed, time displacing tombs that keep whoever or whatever's inside in a state of suspended animation."

"Do you think that Maraveck is one of those monsters?" Spike asked. "You know, the ones put into the hyper lock thingies?"

"Must be," Twilight Sparkle said. "It's the best explanation for it suddenly appearing out of thin air."

"Or up from the ground, which the chambers were buried underneath," Starlight Glimmer said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait!" TJ said. "Did you say chambers? As in plural? As in there may be more of these things out there waiting to pop up out of the ground."

A distraught look crossed the four's faces at the mere thought. None looked more distraught about it than Twilight Sparkle herself.

"It's entirely possible," Twilight Sparkle said as her eyes and her body trembled. "Although I really wish it wasn't... Even more so because..."

"Because if Maraveck managed to get so big so suddenly––" TJ began.

"Then it's possible any other imprisoned monsters got kaiju-sized too?" Spike asked, a fearful tremble in his voice.

"Oh, buck," Starlight Glimmer let out. "This is bad. This is really, really bad!"

"Calm down, everypony," Twilight Sparkle said with royal-like authority in her voice. "Now is not the time to be getting scared and losing our minds over this. We have to act. Now, I haven't been able to find any information in my books telling of where the monsters might possibly be hidden, how many there are, or how they could become kaiju. But I _will_ _not_ _stop_ looking until I have the answers we need for all this.

"For the time being, we have to remain calm, collected, and united in a positive outward appearance. We must stay united, inform those that need to be informed on this, like the princesses, and keep overall harmony going strong in the land."

"So you're gonna tell the princesses about all of this here?" TJ asked. "The thing at the swamp, what we found in these books, everything?"

"Oh, gosh, yes," Twilight Sparkle said. "Absolutely, everything will be relayed to the ponies I know need to be in the loop on this. What they do with that info is their business. The princesses, our closest friends, all of them. But we're _not_ going to let it cause a panic! We _cannot_ panic and we won't! We're just going to go on with our lives and overall routine; the school, my royal duties, Spike assisting me, Starlight doing her part."

"And me being your every loving boyfriend," TJ said as he leaned in and kissed Twilight.

She smiled before getting serious again.

"I'll just be working on all this on the side in the meantime," Twilight Sparkle said.

"I'll help however I can, Twilight," Spike said.

"Thank you, Spike," Twilight Sparkle said gratefully. "I knew I could count on you."

"Count me in, too," Starlight Glimmer said. "The fate of the country could be at stake here in a big way. We need as many ponies working on this as we can get."

"I'll look around, too," TJ said. "See if I can find some relevant information here... or anywhere about all of this. Anything to help, Twi."

"Thank you all," Twilight Sparkle said. "I got a feeling I'm going to need it."

"Until we get our answers," Spike said, "if another monster appears and it ends up being a kaiju, we can just have Godzilla deal with it like he did that one at the swamp. The ponies there seemed pretty grateful for his help."

"Too bad they didn't come with us when we offered them a better way of life," Starlight Glimmer said. "Or at least a cleaner one."

"Hey now," TJ said. "Just because that lifestyle doesn't work for us, doesn't mean it's bad or lesser or anything. At least not to those ponies there. Clearly it meant something to them, otherwise, they wouldn't have stayed... Although I do think they were more than happy about moving their lives away from the denser parts of that swamp."

"Yeah, no doubt," Spike said. "Especially after how unstable the area they were living in must be from Godzilla and Maraveck ripping it up during their fight."

"Still looked like a hot mess to me either way," Starlight Glimmer said. "But yeah, I understand, lifestyle differences and everything. Still, I do think those in authority of Equestria should work on improving relations with the far south of the country."

"I agree completely," Twilight Sparkle said. "I'll make a point of bringing it up the next time I'm in session with the princesses and the other authorities in charge of Equestria. When I saw how much disarray was in the far south and how cutoff it felt from the rest of the nation during my travels to find the hippogriffs, I knew something needed to be done. I've just been... distracted by other things. But I won't let those distractions stop me any longer, not when there are ponies in the south who need our aid."

"Righteous," TJ said. "Maybe you can get Godzilla's help with that too. Try seeing how diplomatic he can be. I mean, we already know he can handled giant matters like a boss. That includes him taking care of that frog."

"Did he really, though?" Twilight Sparkle questioned as a worried expression crossed her face.

"What's up, Twilight?" TJ asked.

"Well... it's just..." Twilight Sparkle started.

"You're freaking about how Godzilla didn't kill Maraveck?" Starlight Glimmer asked. "You're wondering why he spared him, especially when he was a servant of a being as evil as Grogar was?"

"Well... yeah," Twilight Sparkle said. "I know it's not right to wish death on any creature. It's more so confusing since Godzilla is usually a shoot to kill type of fighter. When he fights, he usually fights to win at any cost."

"He still won that fight with Maraveck, didn't he?" Spike asked.

"Yes, he did," Twilight Sparkle said. "I'm just wondering... why spare him? What could his reasons be?"

The others were quiet for a moment as they mulled over what the answers could be. It's true, Godzilla was usually the kind of fighter that went to deathly extremes to get the victory in combat. What was so different this time around that Godzilla felt the need to spare a frog of all creatures from death's icy grip? One that was a known associate (or former associate) of an evil tyrant?

"There could be any number of answers," TJ said. "And I think that's it, too. There is no one answer, but several and if we really want those answers, we should probably ask Godzilla more directly at some point."

"That leaves another question, though," Starlight Glimmer said. "If Godzilla spared this monster, will he spare any others that might pop up in Equestria. Because we have to seriously take it to heart that this is something that could happen after today."

"Godzilla's our friend!" TJ said. "He's always looked out for us and had our best interests at heart overall. We should really trust him more, even in situations as strange as this. He's earned our trust with every time he's put his body and well being on the line to protect us. As I said, we should just sit down and talk to him at some point when we get a chance and ask what his thought process was in sparing Maraveck."

"Yeah, you're right, TJ," Twilight Sparkle said. "I'm sure Godzilla has good reasons. I'm just wondering if the rest of the world will feel the same way."

"Say what now?" Spike asked.

Twilight turned and looked to everyone else.

"Remember," Twilight Sparkle said, "other nations are already apparently weary of Godzilla. They're not too kin on our association with him as a nation either. I'm worried what will happen and how the other nations of the world will react when word of this gets out, which it most certainly will."

"I hadn't thought of that," TJ said.

"Let's cross that bridge when the time comes," Starlight Glimmer said. "For now, we should focus on what all is happening in Equestria as we agreed before."

The others were quiet for a moment before nodding their heads in agreement.

"Okay, but I will still be telling the princesses to prepare for possible international reactions to this current situation," Twilight Sparkle said.

"As you should," TJ agreed.

"But for now, Equestria comes first," Twilight Sparkle said.

She then looked away to a book about Godzilla laying on the table next to her. A picture of the monster king's face graced the cover, looking as mighty and fierce as ever. _Godzilla... you've been a dear friend for so long. I only hope... that your path doesn't stray too far from that friendship. I would hate to lose such a strong, meaningful bond with someone I've come to care for so much. _

_I also hope whatever your plans are... whatever you have in mind... it doesn't bring us into conflict at all. So in the name of our friendship and maintaining peace and unity, I will trust in you... for now. Whatever you have planned or what you're thinking... I hope it is with the best intentions of everyone... including you, my friend._

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**Happy Halloween, everyone. Hope you enjoyed this new entry in the Godzilla - MLP:FIM short story collection. I hope it was a monstrously fun time. Take care, everyone. I'm the Writer of the Storm, signing off. **


	3. Where is Thy Claws? Pt 1

**I don't own 'Godzilla' nor 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'. 'Godzilla' is a trademark of Toho Co. Ltd. and 'My Little Pony' in all its incarnations is owned by Hasbro.**

* * *

**"Where is Thy Claws? Part 1"**

* * *

_Takes place after Season 8, Episode 14, "A Matter of Principals"_

* * *

**THE BADLANDS:**

Besides being a desolate, practically bare, rocky wasteland, this particular territory in Equestria got its name and reputation from other sources as well. This area (which was even bigger than Manehattan and Canterlot combined) was known as a place where bad things happened to ponies who dared to venture here, be it by accident or intentionally. Some never even returned from this territory in part because of the slew of creatures that frequented the Badlands either passing through or making it a permanent residence. All sorts of monsters and vile beasts in many different shapes and sizes could be found in the Badlands, from dragons to manticores to chimeras to subterranean giant worms; so many beasts. It was a truly dangerous area... and it was only going to get more dangerous still.

Even the most vicious of beasts that frequented the Badlands were in for the shock of their lives when it felt like almost the entire area was starting to shake. An earthquake had begun and it was as violent as can be, sending mesas, cliffs, and other rocky formations cracking and even crumbling to the ground. The ground itself even started to crack up a bit, putting all the monsters residing in the Badlands in even more distress. Depending on what kind of beast they were, they ran, flew, climbed, scurried, and crawled in all directions in an attempt to escape this dangerous, frightening event. It got even worse, both for the Badlands and possibly the whole country of Equestria itself.

In an area where there was a particularly long crack forming in the ground that started to open up more and more, whatever was underneath did not wait to be revealed. A gigantic tail broke out of the ground, sending chunks of earth flying all over the place. The tail looked like it was made of rock itself, although it was actually much tougher and more durable than mere stone. It also curved forward with a large stinger at the end. The tail was soon followed by two giant, jagged, pincers breaking out of the earth's crust, which the giant creature used to help push the rest of its body out of the ground.

Soon revealed was a stone-like exoskeleton with four legs on each side to carry it. All over the giant, earth-colored scorpion's body was all sorts of jaggedly sharp spikes sticking out of its back, legs, and tail. It let out a mighty hollering call from its mouth hidden behind its mandibles. The creature's red eyes glowed as the beast's expression seemed to be frozen in a menacing glower meant to install fear in all who saw it. All the other beasts in the Badlands, some of them for the first time, knew what it meant to fear another, more menacing monster.

The 80-meter long monster (106-meters if you count the tail) roared out as it started to make its way across the Badlands, killing and only sometimes eating whatever live creature it came across. This scorpion-beast, whatever it was and wherever it came from, was looking to cause havoc and mayhem. That is until it was stopped from having felt a presence, another being like it in some ways but much different overall. The scorpion seemed even more menacing than before, having become angry because this other being was awakening as well, most likely because of him. The scorpion recognized this other presence, for long ago it had bested him and many of his comrades in the past.

Back then, the scorpion had no chance of fighting this other creature, either on its own or especially with its brethren who had bested the arachnid and his own. Times were different now, though, for the scorpion was much bigger and far more powerful. Despite being on his own, the scorpion felt this other being was as well and was confident with his new power and size he could rip his old foe apart. The scorpion roared out as he scurried along to prove just that, heading to meet this old enemy in direct combat. Evil intentions were on the scorpion's mind as he crawled along his way to the Forbidden Jungle.

* * *

**THE FORBIDDEN JUNGLE:**

Unlike the Badlands, the Forbidden Jungle was luscious with plant life of all kinds with all sorts of jungle animals to graze, fly, pounce, and stalk amongst. There were still mountains and large cliff sides among other stone structures, but more than half of them were covered in these exotic plants. Some even made waterfalls that were part of a system of rivers connecting through the jungle. Many would argue the Forbidden Jungle was a much better area than the Badlands despite it coming with its own share of dangers. In fact, it was called the Forbidden Jungle because technically nopony's suppose to go there because of how truly dangerous it was.

A law was past forbidding any non-locals of the jungle from traveling there. However, that law was hardly ever enforced, the only thing really doing so being the jungle's reputation. From some of the more unfriendly natives to the hazardous trails and natural traps of the jungle itself to its own ecosystem of vicious pony-eating animals. Some of the plants were even dangerous, being poisonous, shooting venomous darts, wrapping vines around creatures before feeding them to giant flowers full of teeth. It just wasn't a place for ponies to be.

Yet despite the warning, despite the laws, and despite the dangers, some ponies still occasionally traveled into this dangerous territory. Some came thinking the name, reputation, and law were complete poppycock and wanted a holiday away from it all. Some came _because_ of the Forbidden Jungle's reputation and were thrill-seekers looking for an adrenaline rush. Then some were archaeologists looking for precious historical artifacts to either place in a museum or sell to the highest bidder. One such pony who was an archaeologist who fell into the former category named Daring Do.

This brave, near fearless pegasus mare, flew through the jungle after having successfully secured an ancient artifact. In doing so, she managed to leave her foes behind back at the temple it came from to deal with each other, the foes being Ahuizotl and the bunch led by Dr. Caballeron. With those guys busy fighting amongst themselves, Daring Do had more than sufficient time to fly a safe distance away. However, she didn't stop until she had put a good twenty-six miles between them and herself. None of her foes she left in the temple were pegasi or had the speed to keep up with one, so she went as far as she could and as fast as she could.

_The further I am, the safer I'll be... and the jewel, too,_ Daring Do thought as she flew on. Eventually, though, her adrenaline rush wore off and all the fast-paced flying took the energy out of her. The explorer-adventurer needed to take a break and finally relented, taking to the ground and landing gently despite wanting to just drop. Daring Do breathed heavily, her heart feeling like it was caught in her throat. In addition to the twenty-six-mile flight she just did, the daring adventurer had also gone through a great ordeal to get unsuccessfully around, eventually through, and then away from her adversaries.

It was pretty much part of the routine by now, but every time Daring Do always pushed herself beyond her limits to try and achieve her goals. It was just the kind of pony the pegasus mare had always been for as long as she remembered. And nine times out of ten, Daring Do's excruciating efforts would pay off for her in a big way. As she finally managed to catch her breath and her heart rate started to slow, Daring Do pulled up the artifact she'd obtained, gazing at it in her hoof. In that moment of looking at the large ruby contained in a golden disk on a necklace, the secret author of her own adventures knew this was one of those times where she succeeded.

"Oh, the book I'm gonna write about this," A.K. Yearling said with a big smile on her face.

There were times when she couldn't remember which name was the pseudonym and which was her real name or if they were both fake. All the pony with dual identities knew for certain was that she loved adventuring and she loved writing about it. The type of life she chose allowed her to do both, among other things, including discovering and excavating artifacts for preservation. This included such things like the jewel of Charta, which she was holding in her hoof at that moment.

"Well," Daring Do said, "better stop gazing at you and get you back to the museum before I get greedy and decide to take you home myself." The pegasus pony started to put the jewel away when she suddenly felt the earth beneath her hooves start to shake. "Well, that can't be good."

It got even worse, for the tiny trembles intensified almost immediately into a massive earthquake that made the whole jungle shake like it was alive. _What the heck's going on?_ Daring Do wondered to herself as she tried to stay standing. The screams of animals all around her broke through the rumbling of the ground as they flew, ran, swung, dug, did whatever to try and escape the tremors. The snapping and falling of branches and whole trees were heard as well, as was the cracking and breaking of the ground itself. Daring Do heard the feet and hooves of animals running in her direction and instantly took to the air, flapping her wings intensely to avoid the stampede.

Although, as she flew up, Daring Do soon found she'd have much more flying to do. Her ears picked up the increase in sounds of stone crumbling apart, making the distressed mare turn to see a rock-face close by starting to break away. The several hundred plus foot tall stone structure shook and cracked into several pieces and fell to the ground, crushing whatever was beneath it. Instantly, Daring Do turned and flew away as fast as she could to avoid being crushed by the remnants of the stone structure. When she turned back, however, the mare nearly forgot how to fly, getting her winging back enough to hover as she looked on in disbelief and even fear at what she saw.

Up out of the rubble rose a creature of gigantic proportions. Daring Do had never seen such a gigantic beast like this before in person. Sure, she had seen all kinds of creatures of many shapes and sizes, but never this size, nor did she ever expect one this size to be the particular shape it was. The giant, cat-like monsters roared out as its eyes glowed bright blue. It looked to be about 87 meters in height and 100 meters in length with petrified wood-like body tissue in place of flesh and fur.

The overall shape of its feline body invoked comparisons with that of a lion or a tiger, a big, vicious predatory wild cat in that likeness. Its skin color came in many swirling hues between gray and white, said skin being far more durable than the material it resembled. Despite all of this, though, perhaps one of the most striking features of all with this giant cat creature was the large, jagged antlers on its head. Two long, jaggedly pointed antlers with multiple pointed ends on them were actually on the head of a giant wild cat that looked like it was made of petrified wood. This titanic creature was as much a marvel to behold as it was a terror.

Yet as unique as it seemed and as surprising as it might have been to most that such a beast exists... Daring Do knew exactly what this creature was.

"Ubasti," Daring Do whispered in awe. _So the legends are true._

The golden-furred pegasus mare gazed in wonder at the sight, actually feeling a slight sense of calm upon looking at the full form of the monster. She even allowed herself to smile a little she felt so relaxed, mostly stemming from what she'd learned about this creature. The flying pony did still have to cover her ears when the creature she called Ubasti lifted its head and roared out, though. Despite that, Daring Do was actually really happy to see this creature, knowing by its reputation in ancient myths and legends as a protector, a guardian. _A true child of the titans, incredible,_ Daring Do thought to herself.

_This is amazing. I don't know what she's doing here or why she suddenly decided to wake up now of all times. But wow, now Equestria has another giant protector watching over it._ A.K. Yearling couldn't help but think about the amazing books she could write about this creature, fiction, and non-fiction alike. It was the chance of a lifetime and she had every intention of taking advantage of it.

So Daring Do decided rather than leave the jungle right away, she would follow Ubasti and see where her travels took her. She watched and waited to see what the giant feline creature would do next after having finally come back to the surface after thousands of years. Daring Do watched as the cat monster turned its head to the northeast and sniffed the air. The light gold mare was both confused and concerned when Ubasti started to let out a series of angry-sounding growls. _What's got you so upset, old girl?_

Ubasti lifted her head and let out a lion-like roar before she started walking in the direction she felt an old foe's presence approaching from. Daring Do quickly followed, although she kept a respectable distance from the kaiju-sized cat. The pegasus was also careful to check and make sure there were no native villages or any other settlements along the way in Ubasti's path. As Daring Do followed the giant cat beast, she couldn't help but wonder why she was going this way, why she seemed so angry, or why she even woke up and surfaced in the first place. _What could it be that's got you so worked up after just waking up like you did?_

Daring Do had no idea that several miles away, near the border of the Forbidden Jungle and the Badlands a former enemy had awakened as well. Ubasti and this other creature had been on opposite sides when opposing factions, one good, and one evil, had fought for dominance of the land. Ubasti's side came out the victor, but she was the only giant on her side to survive, all her fellow sub-titans having fallen in battle. Because of this, because an old foe was now awake, and because she still desired to defend, Ubasti rose up to meet her ancient enemy once again in combat. And this time... she planned to finish the job.

* * *

**PONYVILLE:**

Fluttershy and Muse waited patiently for Twilight Sparkle to return in one of the lounging areas of the castle of friendship. They had come to her castle to greet her after she back from one of what had been many meetings with representatives from other countries. Whether leaders came themselves or others sent a lower-ranking official in their stead, either way, Twilight Sparkle went out to meet them. For the most part, these meetings had been about either her relatively new school of friendship... or Godzilla. Two entirely different entities altogether, yet they both held just as many political intrigues and concerns with other nations.

"Do you really think Twilight will appreciate us surprising her like this, Muse?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean, after a long, tiring meeting with politics? I hear they can be.. pretty aggressive."

"You're just asking me this now?" Muse asked. "Why didn't you ask me on the way here or at Sugarcube Corner when I first thought of it?"

"Well, I wanted to," Fluttershy said. "I... just couldn't bring myself to do it."

The creamy yellow-furred mare gave an apologetic smile to her multi-colored alicorn friend. Rather than react with anger or annoyance, Muse looked away with worry. This gave Fluttershy pause as she looked to her friend with concern and walked over to her.

"I'm sorry, Muse," Fluttershy said.

"No, no, Fluttershy, you're fine," Muse said before flashing her friend a small smile. "It's just that I was starting to wonder about that myself. You know, whether Twilight would want someone bothering her after going through another one of these political meetings? But that wasn't what I was thinking at the time, not at all. I thought maybe Twilight would like some company to cheer her up given how so many of these meetings haven't had the best outcome.

"That especially goes for the meetings about Godzilla and Anguirus and their monster island. The meetings about the school have been more... eh... even-Steven. The meetings about Godzilla and Anguirus, though? Ooh, boy, I'll tell ya. I haven't been to one, but I've heard all sorts of stories. That's why I wanted to be here when Twilight and Spike got back.

"I figured they'd want some supportive hooves to hug them if they needed it since everyone else is so busy right now. I'm starting to wonder if that was such a good idea on my part. Is company really something someone would want after the drilling these meetings apparently give? Way to think there, Muse."

"Oh, Muse, don't be hard on yourself," Fluttershy said as she placed her hoof on her friend's shoulder. "It was thoughtful of you to want us to be here for Twilight and Spike when they got home. You just didn't consider the other possibilities about coming here is all. You were too dead set on being a good friend to them when you thought they needed some. Nopony can get mad at you about that."

The multi-colored alicorn mare who had been berating herself looked to her pegasus friend and gave a small smile.

"I really am lucky to have such great friends like you, Fluttershy," Muse said before hugging her. "You and the others really know how to make a pony feel like they're worth it."

"The same goes for you, Muser," Fluttershy said as the hug ended. She then booped Muse on the nose, making her giggle a bit. "Friends like you are something special. Who else would want to be here to greet someone after a hard day when they don't have to?"

"Thanks, Flutters," Muse said. "You, Twilight, and everypony else are special too. I'm lucky to have you as my friends."

It was then that the front doors of the castle opened up, instantly catching Muse and Fluttershy's attention. They soon heard the voices of the residents who called the castle of friendship home.

"Looks like they're back," Fluttershy said.

"Kind of sounds like the day didn't go their way, though," Muse said, taking notice of their friends' tones.

"That could be a sign they need us the most right now," Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, or it could be a sign they'd rather be left alone too," Muse said, sounding unsure. She felt Fluttershy's hoof on her shoulder and looked to see her friend smiling supportively. "Only one sure way to find out, though."

"Good girl, Muse," Fluttershy said. "Let's go make our friends smile... or possibly leave if they ask us to."

By the time the duo of mares reached the front area of the castle, Twilight Sparkle and Spike were already halfway up the stairs.

"Hey, guys," Muse called.

Twilight and Spike jumped a little as they let out small yelps before turning to see their friends at the bottom of the stairs.

"Muse?" Spike let out.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight Sparkle questioned.

The pegasus and alicorn waved to their friends on the staircase while smiling sheepishly.

"Uh... yeah," Muse said. "Ta-da."

"Sorry to give you a fright," Fluttershy said. "I'm not quite used to being on the other side of one."

"We didn't mean to startle you," Muse said. "I hope you don't mind that we let ourselves in while we were waiting for you."

"Oh, no, that's okay," Twilight Sparkle reassured as she came down the stairs with Spike in tow. "My friends and family are always welcomed here... and you two are both."

Twilight Sparkle and Spike gladly shared hugs with Fluttershy and Muse.

"It's great to see you guys," Spike said. "But is it okay if I ask exactly what you're doing here?"

"We came to be here for you, just like I said before," Muse said.

"Or leave if it turned out that you wanted to be alone," Fluttershy added. "Do you?"

"No, not at all," Twilight Sparkle said. "I would never turn my friends away when they go out of their way to come see me."

"And of course you already know I think you ponies are the bee's knees," Spike said.

The yellow pegasus and multi-colored alicorn smiled in appreciation.

"Uh... Muse?" Twilight Sparkle said. "Is... is TJ here with you?"

"No, sorry, Twi," Muse said. "He couldn't make it this time around because he's out trying to find a more permanent job. Random chores around town doesn't exactly bring in the big bits. Unfortunately, it's not easy finding a job in such a small town either. Most of the best ones are taken already, speaking as a pony who's looking for one herself."

Twilight Sparkle nodded her head.

"It can certainly be tough," Twilight Sparkle said. "Sorry, you and Jacky are having trouble finding work, Muse. If you want, I could maybe try and help look for something."

"That'd be boss," Muse exclaimed with a big smile. "Thank you, Twilight!"

The violet mare smiled in response.

"Your continued friendship is all the thanks I need," the princess of friendship said.

Muse could only smile for a moment, as was the same with Twilight.

"So... how did it go today?" Fluttershy asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

Instantly the good vibes were dampened as Twilight and Spike's smiles were replaced by the most solemn and angered frowns.

"Oh, boy," Muse let out, feeling the sudden, heavy tension in the air.

"Is it too soon to ask?" Fluttershy questioned wearily.

"You tell them, I'm out," Spike said before heading upstairs.

Muse and Fluttershy both looked concerned as they watched Spike go while Twilight stood where she was, frowning all the while. Both visiting mares were again wondering if coming to see Twilight and Spike so soon after getting back from a political meeting was a good idea or not.

"Was it really that bad?" Muse asked.

"Well... no," Twilight Sparkle said. "It only feels like it because we got up pretty early to be a part of this long... long... long, long meeting today. Having said that, there were still some pretty bad spots... but also some good ones."

"Oh, really?" Fluttershy asked, sounding a bit more hopeful.

"All of our major allies have seemed to have had their doubts eased about Godzilla and Anguirus," Twilight Sparkle said. "Queen Novo, Dragonlord Ember, Prince Rutherford, King Thorax, they all seem to be on our side now."

"I'll bet you opening up your school doors to their exchanged students played a big part in that," Muse said.

"That, among other factors that proved how well we can work together and how trusting we can be," Twilight Sparkle said. "It was also us extending the same offer to other nations that got members in their governing systems and monarchies to side with us a little."

"Why do I feel a 'but' coming?" Muse asked.

"_But_..." Twilight said with a frown, "there's still high debate in those other nations about Godzilla and Anguirus' mere existence in this world."

"Huh?" Fluttershy let out.

"What?" Muse added.

"The other countries," Twilight began in frustration, "are debating amongst themselves whether or not Godzilla, Anguirus, and Maraveck should be allowed to live. They're also fighting amongst themselves about whether or not to trust Equestria too because of our association with the kaiju. Heck, it's even being debated amongst their citizens and apparently, other nations have met and debated with each other without inviting or consulting representation of Equestria. They're also trying to decide on possibly doing something about the monsters and leaving any sort of final decision like that out of Equestria's hooves."

"That's so freaking messed up!" Muse said. "Well, good luck to them trying to do anything about the monsters anyways! Heh, I doubt they'd be able to get the job done even if they all tried to get in on it as a unit."

"So, they found out about Maraveck then?" Fluttershy asked.

"I knew they would," Twilight Sparkle said. "I hear that each one of the nations not already fully aligned with us have the monsters' island under surveillance in one form or another. So it doesn't surprise me that they discovered Maraveck's existence. Godzilla taking in and harboring a _'known agent of evil' _has raised a lot more concerns. I tried to ease them as best as I could, but..."

Twilight Sparkle let out the most exasperated of growls as she raised her front hooves at her side. "Why does this have to be made so much harder?! I already had enough of a time working on international relations with the school of friendship invitational. How am I suppose to work with other nations if they're just going to stay in the dark ages and be scared of big monsters even when they're so clearly good guys?!... Assuming they still are."

Fluttershy and Muse gasped.

"Twilight, what are you saying?" Muse asked.

"You're not starting to doubt Godzilla too, are you?" Fluttershy inquired further.

Twilight Sparkle looked to her friends with a sad regretful frown before leading them to the lounge.

"I want so desperately to say no," Twilight Sparkle said as she trotted on, leading her friends further. "But I'm sorry to say I can't be sure. Godzilla's more recent behavior has been so... unusual. He seems to have been keeping more distance recently... and then there was taking in Maraveck instead of destroying him like you'd think he would."

"Especially considering his track record with other kaiju," Fluttershy said.

"Not Anguirus," Muse said. "Although, to be fair, that was a special case."

"But why should he take in Maraveck, a creature proven evil in the past?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Asking that his honorary citizenship be revoked, staying away more recently, and now harboring Maraveck? I know the first two can be attributed to wanting more independence and also trying to keep Equestria off the world's radar since everyone else seems so wary of him and Anguirus. Taking in one of Grogar's own, though, that's left me with questions."

"Why not just ask Godzilla?" Fluttershy suggested. "Go to him directly yourself."

"Yeah," Muse agreed. "I know TJ's suggested that to you before, Twi."

"I would, but I haven't gotten to see him lately," Twilight Sparkle said. "Not in a friendly environment at least. Have you gotten to chat with Godzilla at all recently, Fluttershy?"

"No," the yellow pegasus mare said as she shook her head. "The ponies who were anywhere close to Godzilla most recently was you, Spike, TJ, and Starlight Glimmer during that... _occurrence_ in the Slog Troll Swamp."

"That wasn't that long ago," Muse said. "In fact, that was when he took in Maraveck. Why didn't you talk to him then, Twilight?"

"I couldn't bring myself to," Twilight Sparkle answered. "Partially I was tired... and still had local ponies to help. Also, I just couldn't seem to figure out how to word the question to him."

"How long have you known Godzilla, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "How long have we all known him?"

"Well... more than a year for most of us," Twilight Sparkle said.

"And in all that time, Godzilla's never given us a reason to doubt him, has he?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, I know," Twilight Sparkle said. "It's just that... So much is happening at once right now."

"The world is changing for all of us, including Godzilla," Fluttershy said. "We should've figured that eventually the world would have something to say about Godzilla's presence here, along with Anguirus'. Why new monsters are showing up is a mystery, but clearly, Godzilla wants to handle it and we should be supportive of it... no matter what. I admit it's unfortunate it came at such a turbulent time for us when we were trying to get our new school off the ground. But Godzilla's always been our friend and dealt with giant monster situations.

"Regardless of how the rest of the world may feel about Godzilla and the other monsters, we must not let it get to _us_, his friends. We shouldn't let it impede on the ground we're breaking with the school either."

Twilight Sparkle was silent for a moment as she mulled over what Fluttershy said. Muse stood on the side waiting for what she felt was the right moment to speak. A few more thought filled seconds of silence went by before Twilight looked to her friend and smiled.

"I knew I made the right decision asking you to be a teacher at my friendship school," Twilight Sparkle said. "Or, more appropriately, _our_ friendship school. You're absolutely right, Fluttershy, thank you so much for the pep talk."

"I learned from the best," Fluttershy said with a wink.

The two giggled and exchanged a hug with one another. They both saw a smiling Muse standing off the side and waved her over to join in the embrace, which she gladly did.

"I feel really bad for having doubts about Godzilla," Twilight Sparkle said as she and the others broke off the hug. "It's just... yeah, so many new changes are happening so fast. But I have to believe they're all for the greater good. I shouldn't let it all stress me out as much as it has."

"Hey, it's a lot to deal with," Muse said. "Frankly, it would be more surprising if you, of all ponies, didn't freak out... at least a little bit."

Twilight Sparkle laughed a little, remembering her past freak outs.

"Fair enough," Twilight Sparkle said. "It's like Fluttershy said, though, we have made serious headway with the school of friendship. I consider it a resounding success. I'd just hate if someone tried to impede on that success before it truly had a chance to start... again."

"Hey, you jumped over one hurdle in your school's path," Muse said. "That was literally _right as_ you were getting started. Just realize even if the other nations don't open themselves up to the school, you have several that already have. I understand the appeal of getting more, but for now, focus on what the school does have."

"Celestia said the same thing," Twilight Sparkle said. "She also said, for the time being, she'd be taking over discussions with other nations about Godzilla and the monster stuff. She'd only call me back in for stuff related to the school or if they _really_ needed me for the stuff about kaiju."

"I think she made the right decision," Fluttershy said. "We don't want you taking on so much at once, Twilight."

"You mean you don't want me having a breakdown?" Twilight Sparkle said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Um... yes," Fluttershy said with a giggle.

The three mares shared a laugh as Twilight Sparkle laid back on one of the lounge's sofas as she let out a heavy sigh.

"Oh, man these last few months have been... tiring," the princess of friendship let out.

"I hear that," Muse said. "Fighting monsters, fighting politicians, and fighting heads of the E.E.A."

"Which is which again?" Twilight Sparkle let out. The mares all shared another big laugh. "I think I'm just going to... lay here... for about a week. Then what do you girls say we hit the Hayburger after a bit?"

Muse and Fluttershy both agreed it sounded like a good idea to them. Unfortunately––

"_Twilight!_" Spike's voice called out as he came running into the lounge.

_Oh, sweet horse apples, no,_ Twilight Sparkle thought bitterly in her head.

"What's up, Spike?!" Muse asked with concern.

"_It's happening again!_" Spike said in an alarmed voice.

* * *

"So much for hanging out," Muse said just before she and the others entered the throne room.

Muse, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike gathered to the round table in the middle of the room. Then the young dragon pointed out a spot on the magic map atop said table.

"Right there," Spike said.

Twilight and the others looked and gasped when they saw what their scaly friend was pointing out. Twilight Sparkle had seen the map icon representing the king of the monsters before. However, this time it was accompanied by an even newer icon that nopony had ever seen before. It was more or less the silhouette of Anguirus, but without legs, although it was still easy for the group of friends to tell it was him.

"Anguirus is being called by the map now too?" Muse asked.

"It sure looks that way," Fluttershy said.

"This is... unbelievable," Twilight Sparkle let out. "How can this be?"

"Ooh, but look where they're being called to, though," Fluttershy said as she pointed a hoof.

Everyone looked closer and gasped at what they saw.

"The border of the Forbidden Jungle and the Badlands," Twilight Sparkle let out in astonishment.

"No sugar coating with those names," Spike said.

"Look there," Fluttershy said as she pointed.

Two see-through versions of Godzilla and Anguirus' map icons appeared off the east coast of Equestria on the map. Twin dotted lines connected the see-through icons to the solid ones as the former slowly moved toward the latter.

"Did they, like, swim around Equestria or something?" Muse asked.

"That's strange," Spike said.

"It's fascinating is what it is," Twilight Sparkle said. "Could it be they took some sort of underwater tunnel to end up there? Is there a channel of them, a whole system? So many questions with this scenario, most of them scientifically intriguing."

"Looks like they'll still have to go through the Hayseed Swamps to get to the border," Spike said.

He then shuddered at the mention of the word "swamp" despite the Hayseeds not being nearly as bad as the Slog Troll territory was.

"But why are they _both_ being called to that spot?" Fluttershy asked with worry. "Both territories are notoriously dangerous."

"And you think that's gonna be a problem for Godzilla and Anguirus?" Spike asked.

"Seriously," Muse said. "They may end up being the reason those two places are so dangerous."

"I know, but it's still concerning to me they're both being called there by the map at the same time," Fluttershy said.

"It could be worse than you think, Fluttershy," Twilight Sparkle said, making the others turn to her. They saw the concern on her face and instantly felt it wash off onto them. "The last time Godzilla was called by the map, it was to deal with a monster... Now the map is calling Anguirus along with Godzilla this time... So, what if that means there's more than one monster that's been awakened?"

The others gasped as the weight of such a possibility manifested in the terrified looks on their faces.

"Oh, my goodness," Fluttershy said.

"I'm freaking out here!" Muse exclaimed.

"How's Equestria suppose to deal with this if more monsters keep popping up every time it happens?" Spike exclaimed.

"Calm down, everypony," Twilight Sparkle said. "Now's not the time for us to go into a fit. You all stressed to me before how we have to keep our faith in Godzilla and Anguirus. Well, that goes for right now, too. I have complete confidence that Anguirus and especially Godzilla can deal with whatever monsters are out there, no matter what they are."

The others seemed to find themselves a bit calmer after hearing out what their friend had to say.

"So, what do we do?" Spike asked.

"Wait patiently," Twilight Sparkle said.

"For what, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"Last time Godzilla was called someplace, the creatures closest to the map were also called," Twilight Sparkle explained. "I have a feeling that might happen here again."

"Ooh, a road trip to the Forbidden Jungle-Badlands border," Muse said. "I can get my travel on."

The alicorn quieted down when she saw her quirkiness wasn't appropriate at that moment. Everyone else was staring intently at the map waiting for its call. Nothing happened, though; no cutie marks lit up and Spike's backplates didn't start to flash either. It must've been at least two and a half minutes before everyone realized they weren't going to get called by the map.

"Uh, Twilight," Spike let out.

"I'm aware, Spike," Twilight Sparkle said. "But why not, though? It doesn't make sense."

"Well, remember last time we were called to help ponies evacuate," Spike said. "But it looks like no one's living that close to the border. Or at least the area Godzilla and Anguirus are being called to. So, I guess the map feels since there's no one for us to save, we're not needed."

Twilight Sparkle's expression turned hard.

"I'm still going," the princess of friendship stated.

The others looked and then followed as their royal friend started to leave the throne room.

"Why, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because we still don't know what monsters have been awakened," Twilight Sparkle said. "I'm probably one of the only ponies in Equestria who can identify all of Grogar's monsters that could be waking up. I mean, unless there are some undocumented monsters nopony alive knows about. Aside from that, I'm one of the most qualified ponies to go out and identify whatever these monsters are."

As the others followed Twilight, they mulled over what she said.

"Well, if you're going, then so am I," Fluttershy said.

"No, Fluttershy, it's too dangerous," Twilight Sparkle said.

"And so are a lot of the things we do," Fluttershy said. "But I still do them despite being terrified to my core every time."

Twilight Sparkle smiled at her friend before nodding her head in agreement.

"And don't think I'm not going," Muse said. "Anguirus is my buddy and I want to be there to at least give moral support... That and I really need to get out of Ponyville for a bit. But it's mostly that first part."

"Okay, Muser," Twilight Sparkle said. "You come along... Not you, though, Spike."

"Why not?" Spike asked.

"With Starlight at the school right now taking care of paperwork," Twilight explained, "I need someone to stay here and keep an eye on the castle since we're in the middle of a lot of stuff happening right now. Unless you'd rather I have Owlicious do it?"

Spike let out a soft chuckle.

"No, Twilight, I get it," Spike said.

The violet alicorn smiled lovingly at her ward.

"You've proven yourself time and again, Spike," Twilight Sparkle said. "You've proven yourself to be a responsible creature and a good friend. I'm so very proud of you and always will be."

Spike smiled, as did Twilight before they shared a quick embrace, enticing beaming smiles from Muse and Fluttershy as they looked on.

"You go, dragon," Muse said as she exchanged a hoof-to-fist bump with Spike.

"Thanks, Muse," Spike said. "And thank you too, Twilight, for believing in me... Good luck, you guys."

"Thanks, Spike," Twilight Sparkle said. "We'll need it."

"Take care, Spikester," Muse said.

"We'll see you when we get back," Fluttershy said.

"You can count on it," Spike said.

The departing ponies offered several more friendly, loving words as they walked away while Spike did the same, waving to them as well. They never saw his smile turn to a look of concern.

"So how long do you think it will take to get to the border, Twilight?" Muse inquired.

"Oh, not that long," Twilight Sparkle said. "Not if we make a quick stop first."

"Where to?" Fluttershy asked.

"Canterlot," Twilight Sparkle replied with a confident smile. The other two mares looked confused. "Just trust me, girls."

* * *

**EQUESTRIA'S EAST COAST:**

There was a big burst of water as Godzilla rose up out of the sea, letting out a mighty roar as he did so. Off to his right, a second rise of ocean water burst as Anguirus rose up, letting out his own unique roar. While Godzilla's own call was typically a bell-like shriek that lowered into a bellow, Anguirus' was like the howl of a eternally tormented creature. Both roars were awe-inspiring, even if you didn't see the creatures letting them out, although that always got a greater reaction. As amazing as their calls were, the monsters were an even greater sight, the likes of which ponies only had nightmares about before kaiju appeared in modern times.

However, Godzilla and Anguirus' goal in appearing on Equestria's east coast was not to inspire fear but to tame two foreign entities in the land. Godzilla and Anguirus had both felt these presences preparing to awaken more than twenty-four hours ago and swam over as fast as they could to intercept them. It was too late, however, for the two monsters they'd sensed were up and about, making a course for one another. So while they wouldn't be able to keep the monsters from meeting, Godzilla hoped he and Anguirus could at least make them submit to his will. Godzilla very much wanted these two monsters to be a part of his plan and didn't want to lose the chance to add either of them to it.

This plan still confused Anguirus, for Godzilla still hadn't fully let him in on it. He only knew that so far it had recently resulted in a new resident for the island he lives on with Godzilla. However, Anguirus dared not openly question it, wanting very much to support his best friend. That's why he didn't question when Godzilla told him to come along this time. He didn't try to debate when Godzilla said it would be another part of his plan either (despite Anguirus only partially knowing what that meant).

So with that in mind, Anguirus stepped up closer to Godzilla's side and looked up at him, waiting for his orders. Godzilla looked down to his four-legged companion in appreciation before roaring out, telling Anguirus to come on, that there was a lot of trouble ahead. Godzilla stressed that they had to hurry, to which Anguirus complied. So, with Godzilla leading the way, the two monsters headed for shore. But then Anguirus realized Godzilla's backplates were glowing and inquired as to why.

Godzilla roared back, telling Anguirus not to worry about it or that the spikes on his shell were also glowing. Anguirus was shocked to find his friend was correct about the sharp objects on his carapace. However, because his friend told him to let it go and didn't seem bothered about it himself, Anguirus decided he wouldn't be either (for now at least). So, the four-legged kaiju resumed following Godzilla, the king of the monsters further inland.

* * *

A small portal opened up in the sky, which Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Muse instantly flew through before it closed only seconds later. Twilight, the princess of friendship was wearing the red Alpha Stone in its alternate necklace form. It was the powerful trinket that got her and the others to their intended destination.

"Well, there it is," Muse said as she pointed. "The border... Quite the _fine line _here."

The two lands were as different as day and night. On one side was the lush plant infested land of the Forbidden Jungle. On the other was a rocky wasteland with many a large mountain, mesa, or cliff side. This, of course, was the Badlands with a bare stone section of land and then a thousand plus foot drop off separating it from the jungles beyond.

"Yep, can't get more distinct than that," Twilight Sparkle said.

Muse looked around for a bit in silence.

"Hey, weren't there suppose to be two or more giant monsters here?" Muse asked.

Suddenly the loud, echoing call of an enormous creature rang out from the wilds of the jungle, catching the three flying mares off guard. They look and saw a trail of dirt and dust plowing through the jungle brush as the creature causing it all advanced toward the border.

"There ya go," Fluttershy said as she pointed.

"Let's get a little closer," Twilight Sparkle said.

The others looked at her as if she'd just told them to stick their heads in a hornet's nest.

"You said what?" Fluttershy asked in a fearfully concerned tone.

"Did you just say closer?" Muse asked.

"I said _a little_ closer," Twilight Sparkle let out in annoyance. "I want to get as good of a look at this thing as I can. Whatever it may be."

Muse and Fluttershy looked to each other, still clearly conflicted about this. They nonetheless followed Twilight Sparkle as she flew downward in a path carrying the trio closer to the ground and the direction of the monster at the same time. The closer the ponies got to the monster, the more unnerved Fluttershy and Muse got. Despite having it explained to them, the two mares still didn't quite understand why they were approaching a potentially dangerous kaiju. After getting roughly halfway between where the portal opened for them and where the monster was expected to pop out of the jungle, Fluttershy stopped.

"Uh, Twilight," the frightened pegasus let out in a fear-filled voice. Twilight and her fellow alicorn stopped and looked to Fluttershy. "Don't you think this is close enough?"

Twilight Sparkle looked at Fluttershy for a moment before turning to Muse, who nodded in agreement with their yellow-furred friend. Seeing this, the princess of friendship also nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay, girls," Twilight Sparkle said.

"Hey, look!" Muse exclaimed as she pointed.

The other ponies looked to see the form of the monster popping out of the heavy brush of the jungle as it let out a roar of might. Fluttershy nearly let out a loud scream of terror, but Muse was quick to fly up to her side and put a hoof over her mouth, cutting her off. She also put a supportive hoof on Fluttershy's back. All three ponies looked on in awe at the sight of the giant cat as it shook its head about, displaying its very jaggedly sharp antlers.

"I don't believe it!" Twilight Sparkle let out in a stunned and amazed tone. "It's... It's not possible... Or is it?"

"You know what that thing is, Twilight?" Muse asked.

For a moment, it was almost like Twilight Sparkle couldn't hear her friends or anything else except the monster. Somehow it felt as though her utter astonishment at seeing this particular monster had put her in a trance.

"How can this be?" Twilight Sparkle let out. "Is... Is it really her?"

"Her who?" Fluttershy asked. "Is this a monster you already know, Twilight?"

"Yeah, let us in on what's going on in that head of yours, girl," Muse insisted.

Finally, it seemed like Twilight snapped out of her daze as she looked to both of her friends. They were then surprised to see what happened next. A smile slowly started to form on the princess's face, getting bigger and bigger.

"Uh... Twilight," Fluttershy let out. "Are you okay?"

"We're _all_ gonna be okay now, Fluttershy!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed happily.

This confused the alicorn's friends even further as they looked to each other with uncertainty.

"Twilight, what the heck are you talking about?" Muse asked. "And why you acting so cra-cra?"

"That monster's Ubasti!" Twilight Sparkle said as she pointed at the giant cat. "She's an ancient guardian of peace and justice!"

"A child of the Titans," a voice called out. The others looked to see, most especially to Twilight's surprise, the golden-furred adventurer, Daring Do flying their way. "A creature converted to good by the first ponies to help overthrow its tyrannical parentage."

"_Daring Do?!_" Twilight Sparkle let out. "I mean, A.K. Yearling?! I mean... _Oh, wow!_"

"Good to see you too, Your Highness," Daring Do said with a smile. "It's been a while. In fact, I think we only met the once, didn't we?"

Twilight Sparkle could only chuckle nervously as she smiled big. A bead of sweat ran down the side of her forehead as she blushed. The ever daring and exploring pegasus mare couldn't help but giggle a little.

"So, wait a minute," Muse said. "This is Daring Do? The adventurous archaeologist who writes about her adventures under the pen name A.K. Yearling?"

"Does everypony in Equestria know my secret now?" Daring Do asked with an annoyed frown on her face.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Muse and Fluttershy said together.

"Not at all, ma'am!" Muse added. "Only the ones Rainbow Dash knows personally." The alicorn forced a smile, although it faded quickly when she realized Daring Do wasn't amused. "I'm a be quiet in the corner now."

"Rainbow Dash doesn't really go spilling my secret to everypony she meets willy-nilly like that, does she?" Daring Do asked.

"No," Fluttershy said. "Twilight actually goes out of her way to try and reign Dashie in and tell her to keep it under her hat more. Even though she doesn't really wear a hat... You pull it off nicely, though."

"Thanks," Daring Do said before being cut off a second later by the cat monster's roar.

The four flying pony mares looked down and watched as the gigantic feline of petrified matter prowled beyond the jungle's interior. It kept moving along its way out onto the bare, mostly flat rock lands that made up the border of the Forbidden Jungle and the Badlands.

"Have you been following Ubasti?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Yes," Daring Do said. "I was recovering an ancient artifact when Ubasti awakened right in front of me. I've been following her path ever since."

"So you two know what this kaiju is?" Muse asked before turning to Fluttershy. "Do you know what it is?"

"No, I don't," Fluttershy said as she shook her head.

"Then could you two ponies that know tell us two ponies that don't know what that kaiju is?" Muse asked.

"Ubasti is _not_ a kaiju," Twilight Sparkle said. "Well... at least, not as we know them. Although I will admit she does fit the bill in some general definitions. See, she was one of the offspring of this planet's original rulers when it was still forming."

"The Titans," Daring Do said. "Tyrannical beings of immense proportions, physically and in terms of power. They were selfish, greedy, uncaring beings who fought amongst themselves for power. They didn't care for the harm they did to the planet or their children they bore. All they cared about, what they were obsessed with was how powerful they were, keeping their power, and who was the greatest of them."

"The children of the Titans turned out so good because they were raised by the first ponies," Twilight Sparkle added on. "Catastros, the Black Stallion, the very first Earth pony. Pegasus the Gray, the winged pony who had a whole race named after him. And then there was Amalthea a white mare who was the first unicorn. Under their guidance, the children of the Titans learned the value of life and how to be good."

"Which is why they were eager to join the first ponies in overthrowing the Titans," Daring Do said. "They've been allies of ours ever since."

"Whoa," Muse let out in awe.

"So... you're saying she's on our side?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yup," Twilight said with a big smile. "We have nothing to fear from her."

"Only what might have awakened her," Daring Do said wearily. The others looked to her. "Well, Princess Twilight, I'm sure you know the children of the Titans assisted Gusty the Great in overthrowing Grogar."

"Yes," Twilight Sparkle said. "If memory serves, Ubasti was the only Titan offspring who survived."

"And she was put into a hyperlock chamber voluntarily," Daring Do explained further. "That way, in case any of Grogar's more menacing monsters were awakened or she was needed for something else, she would reawaken too and come to our aid."

"She must be a _very_ heavy sleeper," Muse whispered to Fluttershy. This got the attention of Twilight and Daring Do. "Oh, come on, there's literally more than a dozen times where we could've used her help _long_ before now."

The alicorn princess and the adventuring pegasus looked to each other for a moment before nodding their heads in agreement. All four mares' attention was taken back by the great Titan child, Ubasti. Her roars rang out as she stalked ever further across the border of the Forbidden Jungle and the Badlands.

"One of Grogar's monsters must've awakened in the Badlands," Twilight Sparkle said.

"Unless it was something else that got Ubasti's attention," Fluttershy said.

"Which is it, Fluttershy?" Muse asked. "Can you tell understand her? Can you tell what she's roaring about?"

"It's a little hard to tell actually," Fluttershy said. "But it kind of sounds like warnings. Warnings to ponies and other creatures to get out of her way and warnings for submission or surrender."

"To ponies?" Daring Do asked.

"No," Fluttershy said. "Something else."

"I'm willing to bet it's another monster," Muse said.

"I'd double it by saying it was one of Grogar's," Twilight Sparkle said. "It's too close to Maraveck's awakening to be a coincidence... or anything else in my educated opinion."

Suddenly, a very different, more hollering roar rang out in the distance, instantly getting the startled ponies' attentions. The stunned mares listened as the roar rang out again, sounding like an angry creature from the deepest depths of Tartarus.

"Yep," Fluttershy said as she trembled. "It's definitely another monster."

It's roar rang out again, enticing a response from Ubasti.

"What's the other kaiju saying, Fluttershy?" Muse asked.

"It... wants to kill Ubasti," Fluttershy said right before the two monsters roared again.

"And I'm guessing the feeling is mutual," Muse said.

"Oh, yeah," Daring Do answered. "Don't need to understand animal talk to know that one."

"Let's land," Twilight Sparkle said. "We've been hovering here for Celestia knows how long and my wings are starting to hurt."

The other three mares looked uncertain at first, but they realized their wings were starting to get tired too. Thus the three mares nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Muse said. "But let's _please_ land somewhere far off from where the fight will take place. I'd rather not be crushed by warring monsters thank you very much."

"Agreed," the other three mares said together.

They headed down for a landing, picking a spot still on the border so they could see Ubasti. It was far enough that the four mares were fairly certain they'd be free of direct effects of the forthcoming titanic conflict while still having a good view of it. They hunkered down behind a protrusion in the bare rocky terrain as they watched Ubasti approach the cliff edge that overlooked the Badlands. But then the giant cat creature stopped suddenly, raising her head as she roared out a challenge. The quartet of winged pony mares looked on with heavy concern.

"Daring Do, are there any settlements nearby that you know of?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"None that are so close we have to worry about evacuating them," Daring Do said. "Trust me, if there were any, I wouldn't have been following Ubasti like I was."

"Fair enough," Twilight Sparkle said.

But only right after the alicorn had spoken did another roar ring out from the creature who was answering Ubasti's challenge. The four winged ponies froze as cold chills ran down their spines from having heard the roar. They slowly turned and looked out to see Ubasti raise her head as she let out another roar daring the creature who answered her challenge to show itself. The wait was not a long one, for the giant claws of a scorpion peeked out over the cliff's edge before being followed by the entirety of the hideous, predatory arachnid. Twilight, Daring Do, and Muse all gasped while Fluttershy flat out screamed as the giant scorpion crawled over the side of the cliff and then moved in closer to Ubasti.

"What in Equestria is that?!" Muse let out fearfully.

The scorpion monster stopped as Ubasti roared out a warning, enticing a responding roar from the clawed arachnid.

"Scorpinox," Twilight Sparkle said in a foreboding voice. "I think."

"One of Grogar's I take it?" Muse asked.

"Yep," Daring Do said. "It's not supposed to be this big, though. None of Grogar's monsters got this big."

"Then how did it get so terrifyingly big?" Fluttershy asked, her voice and body trembling with fear.

"No idea," Daring Do said.

"It grew huge just like Maraveck did," Twilight Sparkle said. "Could... they have somehow found a way to absorb the energy of the hyperlock chambers that were meant to be their prisons? Is that how they got so big and were able to escape?"

Ubasti and Scorpinox both roared out at the same time. This made the ponies jump and scream as they looked out at the two aggressive giants. They moved and twitched like they were just itching to let loose on each other and fight to the death. Ubasti's eyes glowered as she crouched into a charging position. Scorpinox held his claws close to his body and wide open as his tail was positioned to strike.

"It's gonna be some fight, that's for sure," Muse said. "They're probably gonna end up tearing each other apart."

"But what all will they take with it?" Daring Do asked. "That's what I'm worried about."

"So am I," Twilight Sparkle said. "The battle may start here, but they can take it just about anywhere."

"Even over here catching us in the middle of it if we're not careful," Fluttershy said, her voice still ripe with fear.

"I won't let that happen, Fluttershy," Twilight Sparkle said as a roar from Ubasti rang out. "Especially not when I got this."

Twilight Sparkle puffed out her chest a little so the Alpha Stone in her necklace would be more prominently on display.

"So that's the powerful gem that survived the destruction of Pony Tale Island," Daring Do said as she looked on. "Fascinating."

Muse put a hoof on her fearful pegasus friend's back as Scorpinox's roar rang out.

"I promise we're gonna be alright, Flutters," Muse said.

The yellow-furred mare looked to her good friend who smiled supportively. This enticed a smile from Fluttershy before she hugged Muse. However, all smiles and good feelings faded when the two giant monsters' roars rang out. The ponies turned and looked as Ubasti and Scorpinox charged at one another. They gasped and watched with wide eyes as the two kaiju began to fight, Scorpinox using his claws to keep Ubasti's antlers from impaling into him. The giant scorpion then used his leverage to pull his feline foe upward, swinging his tail into both of the cat's sides at amazing speeds.

Pieces of Ubasti's petrified-looking flesh flew off, much to the horror of the equines on the sidelines watching this battle take place. Surprisingly, though, this didn't seem to be bothering Ubasti at all, for she was struggling and thrashing about as aggressively as could be like nothing was even happening to her. Eventually, she managed to get her front paws up and swat away Scorpinox's claws, freeing herself of his grip. Then Ubasti charged forward, biting and clawing aggressively while Scorpinox flailed his claws in the cat's face and all over her body. He also kept swinging his tail stinger into Ubasti's body over and over again, chipping away at her petrified flesh the entire time.

"Hey, look!" Twilight Sparkle said as she pointed.

The mares looked closely to try and pinpoint what their alicorn friend was referring to. It took a few moments, but they eventually saw it and it made them gasp in surprise.

"She's healing herself!" Muse exclaimed.

"And at such a fast rate!" Daring Do let out.

"Even faster than Godzilla's healing power!" Fluttershy said, sounding the most surprised of the bunch.

It was true; every piece of her flesh that was cut or smashed away by Scorpinox's stinger almost instantly grew back in a flash of light.

"Astonishing," Twilight Sparkle said. "I mean, they said Ubasti could heal herself."

"But who could've imagined it'd be at this rate?" Daring Do said."

"Not me, that's for sure," Muse let out. "That's incredible beyond words!"

Scorpinox and Ubasti fought on like the most hated of enemies intent on nothing more than destroying each other. In this epic conflict, the two gigantic predatory animals used all they had to rip each other apart. They slammed into each other, bared fangs to bite into one another, and swiped at each other with their own unique set of claws. Ubasti also tried on occasion to gore her opponent with her antlers while Scorpinox continued to make good use of his tail stinger. Both moved at speeds that should've been impossible for creatures their size to achieve despite cats and scorpions being species known for their speed and agility.

Everything they did kicked up dirt, rock, and dust as they thrashed about in their bitter struggle for dominance. The two seemed evenly matched until finally one of them got an advantage in the fight. Ubasti swung out both her front paws, swatting Scorpinox's claws away before slamming them down on her foe's upper body. She then lunged forward and grabbed a hold of Scorpinox's tail in her mouth, biting hard on it. The giant scorpion struggled and thrashed about to get himself free and thrust his claws anywhere on Ubasti's body he could hit her.

Scorpinox got several blows to Ubasti's hind legs, the sides of her body, and even her back of her head. None of it was enough to make her let go of his tail, however, or get her off of him in general. When he couldn't reach to grab Ubasti's antlers, Scorpinox wrapped his arms up around the giant feline's body. Then in an astonishing feat of strength and agility, the giant scorpion sent Ubasti and himself rolling across the ground several times. When it was over, Ubasti had managed to end up on her feet with Scorpinox landing right as well. The two monsters growled menacingly as they stocked and prowled around each other in a circle, both waiting for the right moment to strike.

"This is intense!" Muse let out. "Godzilla and Anguirus are sure gonna have their claws full when they get here."

Daring Do's eyes widened in alarm.

"Say that again?" the golden-furred pegasus mare said in a nervous voice.

"Oh, yeah," Fluttershy said. "I almost forgot they were still coming."

"I wonder how that's gonna turn out," Muse said.

"I don't know," Twilight Sparkle said. "This situation is already plenty dire and volatile as it is. I can't imagine what's gonna happen with two more monsters added to this equation."

"Wait a minute here!" Daring Do exclaimed. "You trying to tell me two more giant monsters are on the way to get involved in all this?!"

"Uh... yes," Muse said with a sheepish smile.

Daring Do looked all the more stunned as she used one wing to take off her hat and the other to wipe her brow.

"What the heck is going on here?" the pegasus mare let out. "It's like a _monster convention!_"

Ubasti roared out as she leaped at Scorpinox, who spun around, slapping his tail against his incoming foe's face. Ubasti crashed to the ground but instantly got back up as she ran at Scorpinox, who smacked her with a backhanded strike of his claw, followed by a succession of strikes from his stinger. On the fifth attempt, Ubasti caught the tail with her paw, swatting it away before swinging her claws across Scorpinox's face. He swung back with his own claws, but Ubasti dodged every one of those swipes before jumping back to avoid both claws and the tail stinger attacking her at once. Then Ubasti charged forward, head down, thus driving her antlers into Scorpinox's body, knocking him onto his back.

But it was only a second later that Scorpinox managed to twist and turn himself back upright. He roared out in anger as he swung his claws wildly at Ubasti, smacking her across the face repeatedly. Ubasti swatted Scorpinox's claws away once more before slashing at him with her own, causing him to lash out with his stinger once more. Scorpinox grabbed Ubasti's front legs in his claws as he tried to restrain her, only for the cat to bite into the scorpion's tail as hard as she could. The giant scorpion reached up for the feline's neck with his claws, but she jumped back, pulling Scorpinox's tail in her mouth as well.

This flipped the arachnid through the air and landed him on his back, making the area shake tremendously. Ubasti didn't stop there, for the giant cat, spun away with Scorpinox's tail still in her mouth, pulling him along and sending him sailing through the air. Once again, the collision of Scorpinox's body with the ground made the area shake, only this time he managed to pull his tail free of Ubasti's mouth and twist himself upright. Then Scorpinox charged at Ubasti, who lowered her head and charged forth, smashing her antlers against her enemy's body. She then flung her head upward, lifting Scorpinox into the air and sending sailing behind her.

Scorpinox crashed into the ground, making it shake like a massive earthquake as Ubasti turned to face her opponent. Like every time before, Scorpinox flipped back up with no problem at all almost as if the fall he took didn't phase him in the slightest. However, his body twitched a little as he lit out several heavy breaths. It was clear that Ubasti was getting the better end of this fight even though it was also clear Scorpinox was far from done. He had his claws and stinger perched and looked ready to strike at any moment.

Ubasti was crouched in an aggressive stance, snarling at Scorpinox hatefully all the while. Scorpinox responded with several vicious chitters as he and Ubasti circled one another. Finally, the two monsters roared as they charged again. They proceeded to thrash, slash, bite, and basically do everything they'd already been doing in this deadly brawl. Pieces of both monsters' organically armored flesh were sent flying all over the place as they kept on fighting to the death. As back and forth as the fight seemed, it finally came to a point where Ubasti was able to lunge forth and bite down on Scorpinox's left arm, soliciting shrieks of pain and anger.

The trapped arachnid responded by swinging his free claw into Ubasti's face while also striking her multiple times with his stinger in an attempt to free himself. Still biting Scorpinox's appendage, the cat spun around, dragging her arachnid foe with her in an attempt to pull his arm off. Not only did that not happen, Scorpinox even managed to pull his arm out of his foe's mouth. This did cause more injury, though, having to pull his arm through Ubasti's razor-sharp fangs. Scorpinox responded by angrily leaping at Ubasti at the same time she leaped at him, sending the two crashing into each other.

They went rolling across the ground for several moments before they both got back up. Then they perched themselves in defensive positions as they growled and chittered once again. Ubasti even let out what sounded almost like a traditional cat yowl. It was hard to tell how long this fight would go on for. These two ferocious kaiju of might seemed to have never-ending fighting spirits with no intentions of stopping until one or both of them were dead.

Before they could get that far, though, a call rang through the air, one unfamiliar to them, but still just as mighty as theirs, if not mightier. The two monsters turned to the east from where the monstrous call came from. The shrieking, bell-like bellow of a roar rang out once more, this time followed by a different, howling kind of roar. The two monsters had never heard these calls before in their lives, but the pony spectators that watched them fight had heard them many times before. The only exception in this case was Daring Do, who had heard the stories of these two approaching beasts but had never seen them before.

She would get her chance, though, for approaching the battlefield was none other than the king of monsters and the courageous quadruped themselves. Godzilla and Anguirus marched forth with zero hesitation in their body language, their eyes, none at all. The two monsters seemed fearless as Godzilla led the march to the warring Scorpinox and Ubasti.

* * *

**TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART 2**


	4. Where is Thy Claws? Pt 2

**I don't own 'Godzilla' nor 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'. 'Godzilla' is a trademark of Toho Co. Ltd. and 'My Little Pony' in all its incarnations is owned by Hasbro.**

* * *

**"Where is Thy Claws? Part 2"**

* * *

_Takes place after Season 8, Episode 14, "A Matter of Principals"_

* * *

"Oh, boy," Muse let out. "I've got a bad feeling things are about to be turned up a notch."

"More like a few notches," Daring Do said as she looked on in wonder. "I've heard the stories, even seen a few pictures. But... seeing Godzilla in the flesh... none of that does him justice."

"Hey, what about Anguirus?" Muse asked. Godzilla's roar rang out once more, almost seeming like it made the whole area vibrate. "Never mind."

Godzilla and Anguirus were getting dangerously close to Ubasti and Scorpinox, neither of whom seemed to appreciate their fight being interrupted. Anguirus found himself stopping when he felt they'd gotten close enough, but Godzilla didn't hesitate to get closer. He then roared out at the two monsters to make sure he had their attention. They roared out in response, neither of them sounding particularly friendly or welcoming.

"Fluttershy, what are they all saying?" Twilight Sparkle asked as she leaned in close to her pegasus friend.

The monsters all continued to roar at one another.

"Godzilla's basically trying to get them both to stop fighting," Fluttershy said. "But... he's also calling on them to surrender and submit to his will. He says he's only going to give them one chance... Then he and Anguirus are going to _make_ them submit."

"And how are Ubasti and Scorpinox taking that?" Daring Do asked.

"How do you think?" Muse asked.

Ubasti and Scorpinox both made it clear they had no intention of coming quietly. Neither were willing to surrender their free will to Godzilla, regardless of how impressive he and his friend might've been. Anguirus watched this all take place as he readied himself to fight. Godzilla roared out as he took a fighting stance saying he had no problem crushing Scorpinox and Ubasti both. The giant feline took particular exception to this as she snarled it anger, only to be blindsided by Scorpinox's stinger stabbing her in the side.

The cat roared as she turned and charged at Scorpinox, crashing into him. The two started struggling again, but the continuation of their grudge match was cut off when Godzilla unleashed his atomic breath on them both. The hot beam of blue energy burned both monsters greatly while also igniting explosions all over their bodies. Scorpinox and Ubasti shrieked out in agony while Anguirus lifted his head into the air and howled before charging the two monsters. The dinosaur-like Anguirus crashed against them and knocked them to the ground before howling out in dominance.

Godzilla followed up with an even mightier roar as he walked up next to Anguirus. Once again he demanded the two monsters surrender or else face pain on a level they never imagined. Instead of submitting to either Godzilla or Anguirus, Ubasti and Scorpinox rose and charged both monsters. Ubasti crashed her head against Anguirus' while Scorpinox scurried up, grabbed Godzilla's legs in his claws, then struck him in the chest with his stinger. Godzilla shrieked out but grabbed the stinger on Scorpinox's third attempt to strike him with it and then stabbed it into the giant arachnid's own back, making him wail in pain.

Meanwhile, Anguirus and Ubasti bit and clawed at each other like rabid animals. At the same time Godzilla pulled his legs free of Scorpinox's claws. He snarled furiously before kicking his foot as hard as he could up into Scorpinox's face, the force sending him rolling back. The giant saurian roared out mightily before the sounds from Anguirus and Ubasti's fight caught his attention. He looked and saw that the two monsters had gotten into a contest of claw swiping, going back and forth against one another.

Anguirus got the short end of this exchange, starting to lumber back from all the swats and slashes to the face and neck he took. Ubasti crouched down into a charging position before she ran full force at Anguirus, crashing into him and sending him rolling onto his side. Anguirus moaned and his body shuddered as Ubasti lifted her head into the sky and roared before she started prowling forth to finish her foe off. She didn't get very far before a blast of Godzilla's power breath hit her in the side, making the feline roar out as it felt the burn and the explosions across her body. Godzilla roared out as Anguirus slapped his tail into Ubasti's face before the king of monsters charged forth, slamming into Ubasti and sending her rolling across the way.

Godzilla roared out once more, telling both opposing kaiju they had no idea who they were messing with. He then turned to his fallen friend who was struggling to get up. The kaiju king offered his assistance, but as he bent down to help, Anguirus howled in alarm, telling Godzilla to watch out. The nuclear leviathan turned around, only to be met with an uppercut-like swipe of Scoprinox's claw up into his lower jaw, followed by several more claw swipes. Godzilla was sent reeling back from the blows, leaving Scorpinox free to stab his stinger into multiple areas on the emerald saurian's body.

Scorpinox got in about five stabs of his stinger into Godzilla's body before Anguirus came charging forth, knocking the giant scorpion away from his friend. The spiky-shelled monster turned to Godzilla for a quick moment to see how he was doing. The monster king was still reeling but had managed to stay on his feet. Anguirus then looked back to Scorpinox and charged forth as the tailed arachnid tried to get back upright. Anguirus smacked a front foot across Scorpinox's face before biting on his right arm. Scorpinox squealed as he slapped his free claw into Anguirus' face and even tried stabbed his tail stinger into his foe's body.

The punches to the face hurt, but it wasn't enough to make Anguirus let go of his bite and his spike-covered shell absorbed the brunt of whatever impact the stinger might've had. No matter how hard he swung his tail, Scorpinox's stinger could not penetrate Anguirus' spike-covered carapace, making Anguirus smile through his bite. Scorpinox got so desperate, he pulled his right arm through Anguirus' serrated teeth much like he had done to free his left arm from Ubasti earlier. The giant scorpion howled in agony as Anguirus leaped forth, stomping his feet on both of Scorpinox's claws, pinning them to the ground before biting into his tail. Scorpinox desperately tried to free himself, but it seemed to no avail as though Anguirus had him permanently pinned down.

At the same time this was occurring, Godzilla was just starting to recover from the stings he took. The ponies looking on saw that the bleeding wounds the stinger had left on the saurian were getting increasingly smaller, green liquid even pouring out of them.

"Eww," Muse let out. "What is that stuff?"

"The venom of Scorpinox's tail stinger," Twilight Sparkle said.

The others looked to the alicorn princess.

"Really?" Fluttershy asked. "I've seen Godzilla get bit and stung by venomous and poisonous creatures before. I've never seen him able to force their poisons and venom out like that."

"We have to face facts," Twilight Sparkle said. "Godzilla's getting more and more powerful as time goes by, this is proof of that. This ability to filter out and dispel foreign and potentially threatening compounds from his body could be a new extension of his healing powers. In addition to being able to heal wounds, his healing powers might've even caused his immune system to evolve, to disinfect himself at will. His immune system might've gotten so advanced, it can near-instantaneously dispel these foreign agents."

"What a creature," Daring Do said. "He's invincible."

"Here's to hoping," Muse said.

Godzilla shook his head and blinked his eyes for a bit. All of a sudden, before the kaiju king could fully recover, Ubasti came charging in. She slammed her antlers against Godzilla's side, knocking him away and even made him roll once. However, Godzilla used the momentum of the roll to end up back on his feet as he hunched over and breathed heavily, sneering at the cat kaiju. The two monsters glared intensely as they started to circle each other, growling all the while.

The ponies' hearts were in their throats as they watched the two monsters lunge forth at one another. Ubasti was up on her hind legs with her front paws swatting intensely at Godzilla's face. The king of monsters ignored the pain he felt and pushed forth, forcing Ubasti's back feet to slide across the land. The cat tried to stop Godzilla's momentum, but his superior strength kept him going before he finally pushed Ubasti off of him. Before the giant cat could drop down one all fours, Godzilla proceeded to unleash a mighty magnitude of punches, open-handed swats, and claw swipes all aimed at Ubasti's face.

It all hurt the Titan child like she'd never been hurt before. It would've made her cry out if she didn't keep getting cut off by the emerald saurian's assault. But as strong as Godzilla's onslaught was, Ubasti's will was also quite strong, as demonstrated when she charged forth and bit down on the alpha kaiju's left forearm. Godzilla let out a short shriek as he tried pulling his arm free before quickly realizing that wouldn't work. He went back to using his fists, slamming his right, balled up hand into the side of Ubasti's face with a mountain-crushing force.

Ubasti tried to block out the pain she felt from the assault, but after the seventh powerful blow, she was unable to stop herself from succumbing to a small extent. Ubasti's bite loosened up, allowing Godzilla to pull his arm free before snarling, his back spikes lighting up as he unleashed his power breath down on his feline foe. The cat screamed from the deadly effects of the beam until finally Godzilla ceased fire. Then the mighty reptilian grabbed a hold of the giant cat's antlers, pulling her forward as he drove his left knee into her face. As Ubasti reeled from the blow, the king of monsters followed up by spinning around and swinging his tail into her face and upper body.

The impact from this attack sent Ubasti rolling. When she stopped, the giant cat had her side facing Godzilla. The kaiju king he took advantage by running forth and kicking his foot up into the cat's side. Ubasti was sent rolling across the rocky terrain as she shrieked out in pain, landing on her side when she stopped.

"I guess cats _don't_ always land on their feet," Muse said. "Then again, Godzilla has a habit of making the impossible possible."

Godzilla roared out as he stomped ever closer to Ubasti's fallen form as she howled in agony. As the alpha predator approached, he held his hands ready at his sides in case Ubasti was trying anything. Yet as cautious and smart as Godzilla was being about approaching Ubasti carefully, once he was close enough, she sprung a surprise attack. She kicked both of her back feet up into her reptilian opponent's chest. As Godzilla stumbled from the blow, Ubasti lurched forth, back swinging her right front paw across his face.

Ubasti charged and roared like a mighty lion as she swatted her paws all across Godzilla's face, intent on putting him down. The emerald saurian eventually reached out and shoved the giant feline back with all his might, giving himself some breathing room. Ubasti strategized as she jumped back a bit, giving herself more room to pounce for with a large leap as she came crashing down on top of Godzilla. But miraculously, this did not make the king of the monsters fall. He was still standing, holding the attacking kaiju on top of him, for he refused to go down easily.

The ponies looked on in awe of Godzilla's incredible display of strength and might as he roared out. Then the super leviathan demonstrated his physical prowess even further when he tossed Ubasti across the way, sending a blast of his power breath after her. Ubasti screamed as explosions went off across her body before she crashed into the ground, making the whole area shake.

"I don't know how much more this area can take," Muse said.

"Don't worry, it's solid rock," Daring Do said.

"Okay, let me rephrase that," Muse said. "I don't know how much more _I can take!_ This is getting crazy!"

"You mean it wasn't already before?" Daring Do questioned.

Godzilla's roar interrupted the ponies, making them turn to look at the kaiju king as he unleashed his power breath down on Ubasti's fallen form. The cat monster screamed out again as she felt the effects of the breath. Godzilla stomped forward a little bit before roaring out, demanding Ubasti's surrender and submission to him. But then the kaiju king's attention was taken when his ears picked up the roars of both Anguirus and Scorpinox. He turned and looked to see the spiky shelled kaiju still had his front paws pressed down on his foe's claws and the scorpion's tail still in his mouth.

While Godzilla admired Anguirus having been able to pin Scorpinox down, he didn't think this was enough to make the giant arachnid submit. Godzilla shot a quick blast of his power breath into Ubasti's side, making her screech as the burning, explosive energy burned into her body. Then, with a final clubbing swing of his tail on the downed cat, Godzilla started walking away to assist Anguirus in taking Scorpinox down. As the mighty reptilian marched forth, he noticed that Scorpinox was starting to struggle all the more to break free of Anguirus' grip on him. Could it be that the giant scorpion had caught sight of Godzilla coming towards them?

Scorpinox put as much force into thrashing about as he could in a desperate attempt to get free. After several moments, it finally paid off when Scorpinox managed to pull his right claw out from under Anguirus' paw. He instantly started swinging it into the side of Anguirus' neck, each blow forcing the power of his bite to diminish. This gave Scorpinox the wiggle room to pull his tail free of Anguirus' maw and then started to stab his stinger into the side of his foe's neck. Godzilla's eyes widened when he saw this, making him increase his speed as he stomped towards Anguirus and Scorpinox.

The ankylosaurus-like kaiju howled in agony before suddenly being silenced as he looked to be somewhat dazed. This allowed Scorpinox to fully shake himself free of any grip Anguirus still had on him. Now, fully free, Scorpinox chittered furiously as he raised his claws and started swinging them across Anguirus' face. Every howl the four-legged monster let out was instantly cut off by Scorpinox punching his claws across his adversary's features. After eight punches, Scorpinox spun around, smacking his tail into Anguirus' side and knocking him off his feet.

The furiously fighting scorpion turned to face his downed enemy so he could finish him off, only to get a blast of Godzilla's power breath into his body. Scorpinox shrieked out as fiery bursts exploded all over his burning body. The king of monsters roared as he stomped up and then spun around, smacking his tail into the arachnid's body, sending him tumbling across the ground. Godzilla roared again before turning to Anguirus. He stepped in closer as he looked and softly roared to his fallen friend with concern, getting a weak moan in reply.

Godzilla's backplates lit up as he opened his mouth, releasing a blue mist from it that washed over Anguirus' body.

"What's he doing to the spiky one?" Daring Do asked in awe.

"Godzilla's healing Anguirus," Twilight Sparkle answered.

"I thought so," Muse said. "I just got tripped up because the mist use to be pink, didn't it?"

"Could just be another sign of Godzilla's increased power," Fluttershy said.

"It makes me wonder just how more powerful he can get," Twilight Sparkle thought out loud.

Godzilla cutoff his aid to his friend when his ears picked up movement from the scorpion he'd just knocked away. He turned and saw Scorpinox twist and jump back up into a proper stance as he let out a hollering roar of anger. Godzilla shrieked back at Scorpinox, daring the furious tailed-arachnid to do something about it. Scorpinox chittered furiously as he started crawling towards Godzilla at full speed while the saurian turned and stomped to meet his foe head-on. The two giant monsters came upon each other and let loose, Scorpinox standing up on his back legs to reach Godzilla while the kaiju king bent down to get at him.

Scorpinox viciously swung his claws up at Godzilla's face and bit at him. He also swung his tail into various places on the reptilian's body. Godzilla punched and clawed at Scorpinox's faces and body. At the same time, he was biting at his foe's claws trying to catch them and crush them between his jaws. It was a wild and horrific brawl with both kaiju refusing to give an inch to the other as they fought like their lives viciously so.

After several brutal moments of carnage, Godzilla's backplates lit up as he fired his intensely scorching power breath down upon Scorpinox. The scorpion cried out as he felt his body burn and explosions burst all across it. He was hurting so badly from the blast, Scorpinox was unable to keep Godzilla from lifting his body off the ground. The king of the monsters roared out as he lifted Scorpinox over his head and then threw him across the way. Godzilla watched Scorpinox sail through the air until he crashed into the ground.

"Uh, Twilight," Fluttershy said nervously. This got the alicorn's attention as she turned to her friend. "Maybe we should move. That throw might've opened the door for this fight to get even closer to us."

"Hey, look!" Muse let out as she pointed.

Everypony looked to see Godzilla was reeling a bit, his eyes looking like they were having a hard time staying open as he moaned out. His arms hung down as he did his best to keep his footing.

"What happened?" Daring Do asked.

"Looks like Scorpinox's venom is affecting Godzilla faster than his immune system can filter it out," Twilight Sparkle said.

"But I thought it was working better because he's gotten more powerful!" Muse said with concern.

"Oh, no," Fluttershy let out in a trembling voice as she tried to fight back tears.

"More powerful or not, Godzilla still took a lot of stings during that last exchange," Daring Do said. "I lost count at twelve myself."

"It just goes to show," Twilight Sparkle said. "Godzilla may be getting more powerful, but he's still not invincible."

"Not yet," Muse said.

Fluttershy openly wept as she feared for Godzilla's well being. This enticed Twilight and Muse both to put supportive hooves on her back.

"He's going to be fine, Fluttershy," Twilight Sparkle said. "You'll see."

"I can't help being scared for him," Fluttershy said in a breaking voice.

"Us too, Flutters," Muse said. "Us too."

Scorpinox's roars got the attention of all four ponies as he got up and saw Godzilla's state. Insects, arachnids, and the like couldn't smile or grin. It was clear, however, that the giant scorpion got a sick sense of satisfaction at seeing what he'd done to Godzilla. He was intent on doing even more, lifting his claws up as he scurried across the land. He moved as fast as he could to reach his opponent before he could recover in any way.

Scorpinox's efforts paid off when he finally reached Godzilla and was able to grab his legs to pull them out from underneath him. It took all the strength Scorpinox could muster in his body, but he managed to pull it off. The sinister arachnid sent the emerald saurian crashing into the ground. The whole area shook violently while the impact cracked an imprint of Godzilla's body into the stone ground.

"_No!_" Fluttershy shouted as she reached out a hoof. The other ponies held her back. "_Leave him alone, you evil, ugly, cold-hearted monster! Leave him alone!_"

Scorpinox chittered in sinister delight as he prowled closer to Godzilla's form and raised his stinger high to end the struggle.

"_Twilight, stop him!_" Fluttershy begged. "_Use the stone!_"

"_Wait!_" Muse exclaimed as she pointed.

The ponies saw what looked like a spike-covered ball rolling through the air and heading straight for Scorpinox. The giant tailed-arachnid didn't see it coming until it was too late. The ball crashed down into his body hard, driving several of its spikes into the large scorpion kaiju. The impact shook the area as Scorpinox was taken to the ground, even leaving an imprint in it as the ball rolled off of him. The ball then unfurled to reveal its true identity as Anguirus, who howled out as he turned and pounced down on Scorpinox's body.

He trapped the scorpion's tail on top of Scorpinox's back with one front foot while also pressing his other foot down into his foe's face. The ponies who saw this all play out cheered loudly.

"_Good boy, Anguirus!_" Muse shouted out loud. "_Kick that scorpion's butt! Let him know who's boss!_"

Scorpinox hollered and cried out as he struggled to get himself free. At the same time, Anguirus continued pressing his full body weight down on the scorpion kaiju. The dinosaur-like kaiju refused to give his captive foe an inch. He even leaned his head down and bit into one of Scorpinox's legs and tugging on it. Scorpinox screamed even more as he struggled to get free.

He started swinging his claws back trying to hit Anguirus in the face. Yet no matter what he did, the spiky shelled kaiju refused to let up. As painful as it was for Scorpinox, he still tried fought through it and tried to get himself free. While he seemed very much trapped and unable to do anything about it despite his efforts, it wasn't near as alarming as what came next. Fear came when the angry bellow of the true threat rang out.

Scorpinox looked forth with eyes full of dread as Godzilla's body rose up off the ground and back onto his feet. The great saurian turned to his pinned down foe and scowled intensely. This instantly struck terror in Scorpinox's heart as he tried even harder to get himself free. Godzilla glared hatefully as he let out several chitters and then a moaning bellow as his back spikes started to light up. Scorpinox started to squeal, practically begging for salvation as he repeatedly thrust his claws up at Anguirus without much success.

Anguirus still held Scorpinox in place as Godzilla's back spikes started glowing even brighter, his jaws parting to reveal a ball of light forming in his maw. Yet even as seconds went by, Godzilla still seemed to refuse to let this particular blast go for some reason.

"Why doesn't he fire?" Muse asked. "He's got Scorpinox right where he wants him."

"Wait a minute," Fluttershy said. "Look at that."

Everypony saw Godzilla's back spikes change in color, going from glowing blue to glowing orange. They gasped as they saw Godzilla struggling to keep the beam contained in his mouth until only a second later when he opened fire. The orange spiral ray flew at Scorpinox as Anguirus released his bite and jumped back as far as he could. Scorpinox's entire body was enveloped in fire as explosions erupted all over his body. The screams of the kaiju could be heard as his flaming body was sent flying back by the force of Godzilla's spiral ray.

By the time Scorpinox crashed into the ground, the flames on his body had dissipated. Streams of smoke still flowed from all over his scorched exterior. Godzilla roared out as he stomped forth to see if he had destroyed this irritating monster or if he still had a chance to make him yield to his dominance. Before he could get far, the sound of a very lion-like roar rang out through the air. Godzilla stopped in surprise before turning to see Ubasti sailing through the air, coming straight at him.

Godzilla only had time to let out a shriek before the giant cat monster crashed down on him, knocking him off his feet.

"I get the feeling this isn't quite over yet," Daring Do said.

Ubasti roared out in fury as she slashed her front claws across Godzilla's face. She must've clawed into the emerald reptilian's features eight or nine times before she heard the roars of Anguirus nearby. She looked to see her fellow quadrupedal kaiju heading towards her, charging as fast as his legs could carry him. Ubasti quickly jumped off of Godzilla and charged forth at the spike-covered kaiju. Not only was Ubasti clearly the faster of the two quadrupeds, but also the most agile.

She had no problems leaping over Anguirus' body, whereas he was slower in turning to face her afterward. When Anguirus did face Ubasti once more, he got a face full of antlers as she charged forth at him, shoving him back a bit. Ubasti charged in even closer, swiping her claws across Anguirus' features multiple times before leaning in and biting into her enemy's front right leg. However, Anguirus was able to pull his limb free before swinging his left front foot across Ubasti's face and following up with his own claw swipes.

Then Anguirus charged forth, ramming his head into Ubasti's face before she did the same to him. Anguirus lunged forth and bit into Ubasti's throat, biting down as hard as he could. Although it hurt the cat kaiju a great deal, it wasn't enough to keep her from pulling herself free. Even then she wasn't out of the woods, for Anguirus reared up on his hind legs and pressed his front feet on Ubasti's face as he caught one of her antlers in his mouth. Ubasti fought and thrashed about aggressively, going on like that for several moments before she managed to pull her antler free of Anguirus' jaws.

Then Ubasti charged forth, swiping her claws across Anguirus' face a few times before lurching forth and biting into the side of his neck. For several moments, Ubasti's razor-sharp teeth were digging into Anguirus' flesh, even drawing blood as the spiky-shelled monster howled in agony and struggled to get free. It was a thrust of his foot into Ubasti's collar bone that made the giant feline kaiju release her bite, granting Anguirus the chance to thrash the side of his head into his hers. Ubasti retaliated by charging forth and actually getting her head under Anguirus' body, allowing her to lift him off his feet and then dump him off to the side. However, Anguirus used the momentum to roll back onto his feet, before spinning around, slapping his tail across Ubasti's face.

Anguirus then tried leaping forth at Ubasti, but she countered by charging forth, driving her antlers into his underbelly. The fearless quadruped felt the wind get knocked out of him as he fell onto his side, making the whole area shake. Ubasti didn't let up, pouncing forth and driving her front feet down into Anguirus' face. Anguirus let out a moan, as Ubasti roared out in her lion-like way before looking down in preparation to finish off her fallen enemy. Before Ubasti could do so, however, she was cut off by a blast of Godzilla's power breath knocking her off of Anguirus.

Godzilla roared out as he glared furiously before stopping forth to take Ubasti head-on. The giant cat monster got back up on her feet and snarled bitterly as she started stalking towards Godzilla. The king of the monsters and the child of the Titans looked at one another like they were getting ready for all-out war. The two monsters let out their respective roars before charging forth at each other. Just when it seemed like the two would collide, Ubasti leaped up through the air and onto Godzilla's body as she bit into the side of his neck.

Godzilla roared out before using his mighty strength to shove Ubasti off of him and into the ground before stomping his foot on her. Ubasti kicked her back feet first into Godzilla's gut, then his left kneecap, making him wince and roar out as he grabbed his knee. Then Ubasti got up to her feet, and sprung forth swiping her claws into Godzilla's face. The emerald saurian shoved Ubasti back, thinking he was giving himself some breathing room. However, this gave Ubasti enough space to charge forth, actually impaling the end of her jaggedly sharp antlers into Godzilla's gut, making him shriek in pure anguish.

Only a second later did Godzilla's look of pain turn into an expression of pure rage as he reached down and grabbed Ubasti's sides and pulled her back. This got the feline's antlers out of the reptilian kaiju's body, but he also had something else in mind too. Miraculously, Godzilla demonstrated another magnificent feat of strength and flipped Ubasti up and held her over his head, her legs kicking up at the air. The alpha kaiju was about to slam her back down into the ground, but all of Ubasti's struggling paid off amazingly when she managed to slip out of Godzilla's hand and land next to him. Then Ubasti roared out as she slammed the side of her body against Godzilla's, making him stumble a few steps.

The two monsters turned to face each other as they roared out, Godzilla swinging his left knee up into Ubasti's jaw to cut her off. Godzilla followed up with a right hook to the face and then an open-handed swipe of his left hand, slashing his claws across his foe's face. Then Godzilla kicked his right foot straight into Ubasti's face, roaring out dominantly as the cat howled in pain. Ubasti refused to go quietly, though, charging forth and slamming her head into Godzilla's gut before thrusting her head upward, slicing the side of his face with one of her antlers. As much as the king of the monsters was hurting, he instantly by spun around and slammed his tail into Ubasti's body, sending her rolling away.

Unbelievably, Ubasti ended up on her feet at the end of that exchange, for she just seemed unable to stay down and let anyone else have the victory. The guardian monster growled as she charged at Godzilla, springing up on her hind legs as she swatted her paws across his face before biting into the side of his neck. The powerful leviathan thrashed around trying to get himself free, but this time Ubasti bit even harder, clamping her jaws on his neck. Blood drew from where the cat's teeth sunk into her reptilian adversary's flesh while Godzilla started punching his right fist up into Ubasti's underbelly as hard as he could.

Ubasti slapped one paw into Godzilla's right bicep while slapping the other against his left rib cage, sinking her claws deep into in both areas. Godzilla howled out before an enraged sneer crossed his face. He was dead set on ending this conflict once and for all, his back spikes lighting up. The two monsters thrashed about as Ubasti set about digging her feline teeth and claws as deep into Godzilla's flesh as she could while the monster king focused on his main goal. He kept pouring more and more energy into the charge of his backplates, making them glow all the brighter.

Then the built-up energy went through Godzilla's body, coming out in a wave of burning, explosive force. The power pulse sent Ubasti's steaming body flying back across the way, bouncing a few times before she stopped. Godzilla roared out triumphantly, raising his head to the sky as he pronounced his dominance and superiority. The king of monsters kept his roar going for what seemed like a full minute, extending it so any creatures within hearing distance would get the point. Once Godzilla finally finished and let his three-mile shriek of a roar fade into a bellow, he set his still furious eyes on the fallen form of Ubasti.

While the emerald saurian seemed to pretty much have this fight won, he didn't seem satisfied, for his original goal in coming here had not yet been met. With this in mind, he started stomping over to the giant cat's fallen form intent on getting his satisfaction out of this bitter conflict. The ponies who had seen this whole scenario go down watched as Godzilla got ever closer to Ubasti, all of them noticing the predatory look in his eyes.

"What are you going to do, Godzilla?" Fluttershy whispered.

She got her answer as Godzilla's back spikes lit up and he fired his atomic breath down upon Ubasti. The cat cried out in pain as the beam worked its scorching and explosive influence across her body. Then the alpha kaiju only responded by firing a second beam immediately after. This got a gasp out of the ponies at how cruel it seemed. Some of the equines even felt the need to call out to Godzilla saying that was enough, especially considering Ubasti was supposed to be a guardian and on ponykind's side.

Ubasti howled out in pain, to which Godzilla responded with a mighty roar.

"Wh-What's going on, Fluttershy?" Muse said in a shaky voice.

"Ubasti... just begged for mercy," Fluttershy said in a whimpering, sad voice as she fought back tears. "And Godzilla said... she knows the only way she'll get it."

"How come Ubasti's healing powers aren't working?" Muse asked.

"I... guess Godzilla was just able to overwhelm them?" Twilight Sparkle suggested with a great deal of uncertainty.

"Look there," Daring Do said as she pointed.

The ponies turned and looked at almost the same time Godzilla did to see Scorpinox limping over, his body quivering in anguish. Godzilla sneered, his eyes glaring a predatory glare as he watched the beaten and battered arachnid come over. His nostrils flared up as he let out several chitters warning Scorpinox about trying anything funny. The scorpion kaiju responded by raising his claws over his head as he chittered submissively. At the same time, Anguirus came up behind Ubasti's falling form and howled out loudly, catching the cat kaiju off guard as she flinched.

Godzilla watched as Scorpinox gingerly and cautiously scurried up next to Ubasti, who struggled to get back up on her feet. The king of the monsters glared at the two kaiju, his claws bared at his sides ready to dish out more punishment should it be required. Scorpinox and Ubasti looked to one another, the former bitter enemies looking like two neutered house pets in comparison to their previous might. Ubasti finally lowered her head and upper body while Scorpinox did the same, holding his claws over his face as well. Godzilla looked at this and felt a sense of satisfaction as he turned to Anguirus to see his response.

The reptilian kaiju was surprised to see his ever best friend bowing submissively just like Ubasti and Scorpinox were as well. Godzilla lightly tilted his head to the side and growled out questioningly. Anguirus responded by looking up quickly with a reassuring smile, which made Godzilla respond in kind. Then Godzilla roared forth at the bowing monsters, letting his three-mile shriek ring out loudly. The ponies nearby almost had to cover their ears.

"I guess we know what that means," Muse said when the roar ended.

"_What?_" Daring Do asked loudly as she tried cleaning out her ears.

Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy watched as Godzilla turned west and looked on for a moment. Then he turned to the monsters bowing to him and roared out a series of commands. As the kaiju all rose, Anguirus walked up ahead of Ubasti and Scorpinox and came up to his friend's side. Godzilla smiled at his friend and roared out in gratitude, to which Anguirus responded mutually.

"What'd he say, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.

"He's ordering them to follow him back to the island," Fluttershy said.

Twilight Sparkle watched as Godzilla started walking on towards the west with the other monsters starting to follow him. As she did the violet-furred alicorn felt something building up inside her. Something that had been there for a while, but it now seemed was coming to a head. As she felt it building, her body trembled, and a hard, serious look crossed her face.

"No!" Twilight Sparkle let out. This got the other ponies to look as the princess stood tall. "He doesn't get to just walk away this time! I have questions and I want them answered!"

Twilight Sparkle flapped her wings and flew towards the monsters.

"Twilight, wait!" Fluttershy called as she flew after her longtime friend.

"You guys!" Muse called out as she and Daring Do flew after them.

Twilight Sparkle was undeterred, flying through the air as fast as her wings could take her. It seemed Godzilla's ears picked up the commotion, for he stopped suddenly and turned in the direction of the ponies. Anguirus turned and looked in surprise, but smiled to see the ponies coming their way. Scorpinox and Ubasti just stood back and held their place in line. Godzilla let out a few soft growls as Twilight Sparkle flew up to his face, the others following behind.

"Alright, Godzilla, there's something I got to get off my chest," Twilight Sparkle said, talking more sternly to Godzilla then she ever had before and ever thought she would. "I want to know why you keep sparing these newer monsters that have been popping up. I mean, I'm glad you spared Ubasti, despite how cruel you were to her in that fight. Seriously, what was up with that? She is a guardian of ponies just like you.

"She should've been on your side, but you treated her as if she were any other monster like Scorpinox. Despite bullying her, you still let her live, though. So I want to know to put my mind at ease and those of the world's leaders, why? Why have you been acting the way you have?"

Godzilla blinked his eyes as he let out several low chitters and thought about how to answer his friend's question.

"You can tell us, Godzilla," Fluttershy said, making the kaiju king shift his gaze to her. "We're still your friends and we still love you. We just want to know what's going on with you. For me personally, the fact that it affects so many others is a secondary concern. I want to know what's going on with you first and foremost."

Godzilla looked to the foursome of ponies for a bit before his nostrils flared up. Then the monster king let out several low roars as he said what he felt he had to say.

"Godzilla says he wants to tell us but doesn't want to repeat himself," Fluttershy translated as she listened. "He says he wants to tell as many world leaders as he can too so he can put their minds at ease as well as ours. So to do that... he says... in three months' time, gather as many world leaders that you can, Twilight... and have them meet on his island. What he said next made Fluttershy look concerned. "He says rather than spy on him and his subjects at his home, he'd rather have a meeting face-to-face to discuss the world's fears and put them at ease."

Twilight Sparkle looked to Godzilla who nodded his head before smiling. It was in that smile that the violet alicorn saw the good-spirited, golden-hearted kaiju she had befriended so long ago. Seeing the calm, caring, softer expression on his face and the friendliness in his eyes almost instantly put a smile on Twilight's face.

"Okay, Godzilla," Twilight Sparkle said. "I'll see what I can do. Rest assured, there will more than likely be at least some leaders there to hear you out. I can almost guarantee it."

Godzilla nodded his head and roared.

"He says until then, he'll see us later," Fluttershy said with a smile.

"Bye, Godzilla," Twilight and Fluttershy said together.

Godzilla gently bowed his head as he growled softly, and then gave a soft, bellowing roar before he started walking away.

"Hey, Anguirus!" Muse let out. The spiky-shelled monster stopped and looked at the multi-colored alicorn. "Good job kicking some flank out there, bro. You're getting to be a great fighter."

Anguirus smiled before falling back in line with the rest of the great kaiju as they headed for the west. The foursome of ponies watched for a moment.

"Do you really think it's a good idea?" Daring Do asked. "Him inviting a bunch of world leaders to his land for peace talks?"

"Yes and no," Twilight Sparkle said. "Yes, because I do think the world's leaders should hear it straight from the lizard's mouth... so to speak. I'm also encouraged because it was Godzilla's idea, which tells me he truly wants the best for everyone out of this situation."

"So why the 'no' then?" Muse asked.

"Because of how the world's leaders might react to the invitation," Twilight Sparkle explained. "I'm sure I can convince at least some of the nations that are already our allies to come. The rest of the world I'm not too sure about, though. How are they going to react to this invitation when they're already so skeptical and hostile as they are?"

"But you're still going to try and reach out to them?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, gosh, yeah," Twilight Sparkle replied. "This is our best chance at burring the hatchet. I'm not going to let it just go by."

"Might I make a suggestion for your invitations, Twilight?" Muse asked.

"Of course, Muse," the princess of friendship replied.

"Cool," Muse said. "Suggest to them on the invitations that they bring animal caregivers that might have the same ability to communicate with animals that Fluttershy does. Don't make it a requirement, just a suggestion in case there are others out there like Fluttershy. That way there's less chance of confusion and doubt."

The others were quiet for a moment while Twilight contemplated Muse's suggestion.

"I think that's a good idea, Muse," Fluttershy said with a beaming smile.

"You do?" Muse asked.

"Absolutely," Fluttershy said. "I never thought of the idea before that there could be other ponies out there who can talk to animals the way I do. But now that I think about it with how odds are with the world's population, it's likely there are at least a few others like me who can talk to animals."

"It is speculated there are at least six billion sentient creatures leaving on the planet," Daring Do said. "So the math does support the idea to an extent."

"Well, I, for one, think it's a great idea," Twilight Sparkle said. "And it will most certainly be implemented when I make the invitations."

"Thank you, guys," Muse said as she hugged Twilight and Fluttershy. "I'm glad you took my idea seriously."

"No, Muse," Twilight Sparkle said. "Thank _you_ for suggesting it. Now, all we can hope for is that this goes the way we all want it to. Including Godzilla in that department." Twilight Sparkle then used the Alpha Stone's magic to open a portal that would take her and her friends back to the central area of Equestria. "Coming along, Daring Do?"

"I think not," Daring Do said. "Thanks for the invitation, but I've got places to be, things to discover, places to explore, books to write. All that jazz."

"Fair enough," Twilight Sparkle said. "It was nice seeing you again."

"Nice meeting you, Ms. Do," Muse said. "Or is it Ms. Yearling? Which one is your real name?"

"How do you know either of them is?" Daring Do asked as she smirked and raised an eyebrow.

Muse was dumbfounded for a second before she laughed along with the others. They bid each other goodbye before Twilight, Muse, and Fluttershy entered the portal, which closed immediately afterward. Then Daring Do flew off into the jungle thinking about the book she was going to write next, certain it'd be a best seller.

* * *

Maraveck, the giant frog roamed around the island where Godzilla had brought him not long ago after getting beaten down and then pledging fealty to the kaiju king. He was scared, confused, and uncertain, when he first got here, especially when he saw Anguirus was already living here with Godzilla. Even then Maraveck still fell in line and complied with the kaiju king's will. Godzilla, king of the monsters has ordered Maraveck to live with him and Anguirus, which was just what the swamp monster did. It'd only been a short while but Maraveck found that living life on the island wasn't so bad.

Sure, it seemed like it would be mostly uneventful, but at least it was calm and relaxed. It didn't really feel like the dictatorship he thought it would. More so he had to remember what the pecking order here was and it seemed to Maraveck that he had a good handle on that. Godzilla was the top of the food chain while Anguirus seemed to be right after. Although Maraveck hated the idea of being the bottom of the barrel, he dared not go against Godzilla, especially when he had one follower so loyal already.

The emerald saurian was already a hell of a match on his own, so adding on a tag team partner for him wouldn't do Maraveck many wonders. The frog knew this, so upon realizing where his place was and accepting it, for the most part, Maraveck's just been wandering across the island. Over time he'd come to appreciate life on the island itself more so than having to live under Godzilla's rule. If it were up to Maraveck, he'd be his own frog, but the island life made it feel a little more worth it to the frog what his arrangement was. He had especially started to appreciate it when Godzilla and Anguirus left a while ago for whatever reason.

He didn't ask why and they didn't bother to tell; they just headed off on their way while Maraveck stayed behind and enjoyed having the island to himself. That changed, however, when night came and Maraveck heard the roars of Godzilla and Anguirus ring out. Maraveck heard this and his heart sank a little, but he still made his way towards the beach where the roars were coming from. He was rather deep into the interior of the island, so it took him a bit to get to the spot where his co-island residents were coming from. He got through a rather plain spot near the center of the island, went through the deep jungle brush that covered a third of the land, and got to the edge of an area of pinewood trees close to the beach.

It was here where Maraveck was finally able to stop, for he saw beyond to the flat grasslands that separated the beach from the pines that Godzilla and Anguirus were already there. However, the swamp frog could've sworn his eyes were playing tricks on him, for it looked like two more monsters were coming than what should be there. The frog blinked and even shook his head, but he still saw the giant scorpion and enormous cat accompanying Godzilla and Anguirus. Seeing the sight of his alpha and the beta returning with even more members of their apparent island clan frankly stunned the monstrous amphibian.

As the foursome of monsters came ever closer, Maraveck looked up to Godzilla and let out a questioning croak. He instantly regretted it, though, for Godzilla stopped and glared at the frog as he chittered threateningly. Maraveck quickly lowered his head and nearly huddled into a ball as he backed up a few feet. Godzilla looked down at the once evil frog and let out a moaning roar demanding he keep himself in check, to which Maraveck replied with a compliant and apologetic moan. Godzilla looked to Anguirus, who just stared back before the two looked to Ubasti and Scorpinox.

The two most recent additions to Godzilla's makeshift clan flinched with nervousness. Then Godzilla looked back to Anguirus, who just let out a soft roar pledging his unwavering loyalty and obedience. Godzilla smiled gratefully before turning to Maraveck and telling him to fall in line next to Anguirus. Maraveck roared in compliance before doing as he was told. He stopped for a moment to look at the two newcomers and now saw that one of them was an old ally while the other was an ancient foe they fought against.

This made the swamp monster sneer angrily as he chittered threateningly at Ubasti. Before it could go any further, Godzilla let out a big three-mile roar that instantly made Maraveck, Ubasti, and Scorpinox bow in submission. Godzilla and Anguirus looked back at the new members of their pack, both snarling and letting the others know they were in charge. But then Anguirus turned and bowed to Godzilla to make it clear he was the top of the pecking order here. Godzilla smiled to his friend before letting out a roar instructing everyone to follow him.

Without hesitation, the monsters all followed Godzilla, the undisputed king of the monsters as he led them deeper into the terrain of the island he undoubtedly ruled over.

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**I hadn't intended this to be a 2-parter, but it got so long that I felt had to do it. I hope you all enjoyed it and if you did or even if you didn't please feel free to tell me why in a review. Criticism is welcomed here just as much as praise so long as it's constructive and reasonable. This is the Writer of the Storm, signing off. **


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